Twilight: Mother’s Love
by Athemia
Summary: Nothing can separate Edward and Bella. Not vampire trackers, Billy, or even Edward himself. But can Bella’s own flesh and blood achieve what others have failed? Is this Renée at all … ? Chapter Nine posted :]
1. My Angel

_**AN: **Alright! First chapter posted! My first fanfic ever, I'm so proud lol. I've always loved writing, and this seemed like a good chance to do it publicly. I wanted to post it before someone else came up with the same idea :P I love Twilight; it's one of the most brilliant books ever. I've read it so many times, I've lost count. Of course, I can't compare to the genius of Stephanie Meyers, so this story will only be a shadow of what hers was. That fact aside, I'll try to make this story as interesting as I can. Constructive criticism welcome, I know that I have a lot of brushing up to do. Also, I may owe you a little comment/warning. Everyone knows how annoying it is to read cliffy's, and everyone hates it when that happens. I know, because it happens to me all the time. I have found though, that cliffy's are extremely… fun to write. I'll be doing that a few times (not out of the pure evilness of my heart), so you're forewarned ;) _

_I thought that this would be my second fanfic, but I stopped writing my AF one when I had a sudden writer's block and have no desire to continue it. First few chapters are just fluff, but we all like fluff, so it's not a problem, right? ;) I didn't go into too much detail :P chapters will be around 3k – 4k words each, to make an average length read, some in Bella's PoV, and some in Edward's when they're apart. I know that a lot of stories have Edward/Alice dragging Bella shopping, and I found it interesting, so I'll be mentioning it a little. Just a very little though, I promise I won't go too much into detail, since I'm not too much of a shopping fan myself. It'll take a few chapters to get to the actual plot of the story – which you would have all guessed what it is by now, I summarize so well x) – but I won't let it get boring (I have some sub-plots planned)… _

_Enjoy, and review!_

_**Thanks to: **_

_Stephanie Meyers – for sharing such a special story like Twilight with the world_

_My English teacher – I know, hard to believe, but out of all people she helped me improve my writing the most_

_Anonymous friend – If it weren't for the joy of teasing you, I wouldn't have put so much effort into Twilight Thanks for putting up with me x)_

_Mum – For buying Twilight for me, even though it cost $22-_

_**Disclaimer:** -hangs head- I'll fess up. Nothing here belongs to me, unless of course I decide to introduce a few characters ;) I'll say which ones… sooner or later_

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**Chapter One**

**My Angel**

_Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep, Beep!_

The alarm went off, the familiar but still annoying electronic sound uncomfortably shrieking in my ear. I mumbled something to myself, still hovering in that limbo that made me still half unconscious, reaching out to slap the snooze button, my arm muscle straining. It was too early… but I was already awake now, so I decided to open my eyes.

It was one of those rare sunny mornings in Forks. The sunlight made a nice change to the usually dingy grey sky, radiating through my window, letting a soft golden glow spill onto my bed, filtering the air so that I could see hundreds and thousands of little dust mites that danced in the morning air.

I closed my eyes again anyway, breathing deeply, rubbing my eyes groggily, turning over in my warm bed, stretching my stiff arm and leg muscles that had been used too much the previous day. I winced slightly as a jabbing pain in my side indicated a muscle making its discomfort known.

There was a slight squeak as an extra weight was added to my bed, and a smile crept over my features as those familiar marble arms slipped around my waist, and I felt cool hands brushing my hair back. I took a risk and inhaled, making sure that Edward's scent still making me go dizzy.

Well, no changes there.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty." His soft voice said in my ear, and I heard the smile in it.

"Good morning, Prince Charming." I whispered back, my voice slightly sarcastic, but my heart beating ecstatically as it did every morning in his presence.

I rolled onto my back, eyes still closed, stretching and muffling a yawn. Edward pinned my arms down just as I started to retract them, and bent his face down to mine, brushing his cold lips along my face, before kissing me lightly on the side of my neck, his soft cool fingers tracing the length of my arms. I laughed shakily, exhaling loudly, meanwhile reminding myself that I had to breathe.

Finally, when I opened my eyes, Edward's golden ones were held about an inch from my face, soft and with a little bit of humor in them. My breath caught in my throat – no matter how long I look at him, his perfection still seemed unreal for me.

He let me go, and I finished my stretching.

"Thank God that it's the holidays." I murmured, turning to face him, laying my hand on his chest. I could spend all day lying here with him, and there wasn't the school factor to drive me away from the thought.

"Actually, if you can believe it, we should thank the teachers." His voice said somewhere from above my head, his fingers stroking my hair softly.

I scowled. It was just like him, prove me wrong. Just as I started getting up, Edward suddenly got off my bed and was standing at my cupboard door, which he promptly threw open and glared at its contents critically. I propped myself up on an elbow, staring at him, forgetting to get out of bed.

I watched him silently, but when he started rifling through my clothes, I had to speak up. I started with the cough-to-get-attention, and then spoke.

"_Ahem_. What are you doing, exactly?"

"I am…" I could barely see him. It looked like he was being buried under an avalanche of my clothes. I myself never knew that he had that much. But that might wholly be Alice's fault; she had filled my usually spacey wardrobe over the space of one night that I had been away, when I wasn't there to interrupt her 'fun'.

Edward finished his sentence. "… Looking for clothes you have that I haven't seen you wearing before."

I rolled my eyes, getting out of the bed. I walked over to him, putting my hands on my hips. "You make me sound like I'm poor or something." I complained, trying to push my jacket back onto the hook, but as soon as that one was back another one had fallen into my arms. "And it's not like Alice hasn't filled my wardrobe to bursting point every time I'm away."

"Well…" Edward said, and then suddenly he heaved, and my clothes all slipped back into their places. I just stared, something that I found myself doing more and more lately. He plucked the jacket from my arms, putting it in its right place. "Alice said that your wardrobe is too small, and she always wanted an excuse to personally take you on a shopping spree." He said, with a cheeky grin.

"Excuse me?" I spluttered. The memory of Alice trying to dress me up for prom still haunted me. If she had her hands on me while surrounded by clothes…

Edward looked at me skeptically. "You cannot honestly tell me that out of all the things that _should_ frighten you; you're scared about what Alice would do to you if you two went shopping?"

I just pouted. "She'll probably make me wear stilettos or something, and even dress me up in another dress like the one she forced me into at prom. My leg has just healed you know, tripping over wisps of silk or even my own shoes won't help me stay accident free." I said snippily, sticking my leg out from under the cover as if that would somehow prove something. All it did was give my leg unnecessary chills. I quickly pulled it back under the warm covers again.

Edward flashed to my side, gathering he up in his arms. "Would I let you break your other leg?" he whispered into my ear, but I tried pushing him away.

"Who knows what you'll do to me." I grumbled.

His laughter rang through the air, and I turned, intending to stalk away but my leg still slightly weak, having been out of the cast for a little less than two weeks. Before I could blink Edward had scooped me up in his arms, carrying me smoothly down the stairs.

I felt like I was gliding on water, but I protested nevertheless. He put one hand gently over my mouth, carrying all my weight with one arm and didn't give any hint that I was weighing him down. I quieted immediately, and we were at the kitchen in a few seconds. He plopped me down, before bringing me a plate laden with food and emitting aromas that made my mouth water.

I knew that I did it a lot, but all I could do was stare at the full plate, trying not to inhale the delicious smells around me. Instead, I looked up at him, miffed.

Edward seemed surprised at my reaction. "Don't you like it?" His voice sounded a little hurt, his alabaster brow furrowing.

"You just had to do it, didn't you?" I complained, but, to my extreme embarrassment, the smell from the loaded plate made my stomach grumble.

"Do what?" He still looked genuinely confused.

"Do everything better than me!" I pouted, but I started picking hungrily at the plate anyway, regardless of my brief irritation.

Edward's eyes cleared, his worried look disappearing. He chuckled, and I tucked in, despite my indignation. It was all delicious, of course. I even ate the chocolate muffin, and I didn't usually eat chocolate at breakfast.

He watched me with a smug expression on his face, and after I finished, I pushed back my plate, still trying to look indignant. I don't need to mention the fact that I failed. He took my now empty plate, taking it to the sink. He knew my morning routine as well as I did now, especially because he watched me eat everyday, hiding in the corners from Charlie when he was here.

"So what's on for today?" I asked innocently. Edward tossed the plate into the air, then caught it with one hand. I raised an eyebrow.

He had lately taken to taking me out to a different place everyday. If it was with anyone else I'd be bored stiff by the car ride, and be too annoyed to actually enjoy the place we were supposed to reach, but with Edward's lunatic driving and Edward himself, I usually found myself stepping out of the car when I felt like I had just stepped in.

Yesterday, for example, he had taken me hiking, _again_. He said that it would help he exercise me said that it would help he exercise my leg muscles. If it were anyone else, I would've vehemently refused, and would've cuffed myself to the table if they had insisted. Edward though, only had to turn his eyes on me, utter one 'Please', and I would go along meekly with him to anything, even if it were to another prom. He would always get his way when he cheated like that. We left early morning, and he had taken me to the place were we would usually get to his meadow. This time however, we took the thin, almost nonexistent trail, and it took almost half the morning, despite our early start. Edward would've carried me on his back, but I had refused his own 'method' of travelling. Now, however, I was regretting it. I shifted slightly in my chair, wincing again at the protest of stiff muscles that had been used.

Edward watched me trying to rotate my shoulders without pulling something, before considering my question. He surprised me by shrugging. "Like I said, Alice wanted to do something… special with you today." He said, looking perfecting innocent, but his eyes were playful. I crossed my arms.

"I'm not going _anywhere_ with her alone." I refused stubbornly, all the time knowing that Alice, or more importantly, Edward would always get their way in the end.

Edward turned to me, leaning against the kitchen bench. "Trust me, if I could go with you, I would, but Alice was really… _fierce_ about going alone with you." He grimaced, but this time I was the one who grinned.

"Can't talk past your sister, can you?" I stood up gingerly as he scowled at me.

"Well I guess then you'd like to go shopping with her."

"Yeah, hm, I wonder when that would happen. Maybe in a thousand years?" I walked around the table. "Oh, wait, better make that a million. How long do vampires live for anyway?"

Edward's eyes turned amused. "Longer than you need to know."

I scowled at his evasive reply. "What, still waiting for me to go running and screaming? I've hopped right past that stage, thank you very much."

He stared at me for a while longer, and I felt my annoyance disappear. How could I possibly feel annoyed with those eyes? He walked to me, placing his hands on my shoulders. I felt extremely weak.

"I believe you have _hopped_ over that stage as well." He said, and I looked at him in amazement. "But that doesn't mean that you don't have other stages to skip past."

I tried shrugging his shoulders off. No use, of course. "What _other stages_?"

"How about the Trying-Not-to-Fall-Over stage?"

"That's not funny." I snapped. He just grinned at me.

"Go get dressed. She's waiting for us at the mall." He ordered, walking to the bench again.

I knew he was trying to change the subject. "What makes you think that I'll volunteer to do anything that's leading to agony?" As soon as I said it I regretted it.

As I knew they would, Edward's eyes hardened, but he just repeated what he said. I knew what had made his mood change. I had been pestering him for months now to change me. Of course, he had stubbornly refused each and every time, and his mood instantly turned black when it was mentioned, even vaguely.

I sat for a moment longer, debating about if I should stay and argue with him or just go upstairs, but Edward sensed my hesitation and he was having his way. Turning his scorching golden eyes on me, Edward stepped closer, running one finger down my neck. I felt my resolve instantly disappear, and I slid upstairs meekly.

I stood, and like Edward looked critically at my wardrobe. As much as I hated to admit it, he _was_ right. Of course I did still had clothes that he hadn't seen me wear, but that was only because Forks weather was too cold to even think about wearing a tank top or shorts. I saw the weather outside was still sunny, only one layer of wispy clouds that still hovered above the treetops, but I didn't think it was warm enough to wear anything but jeans.

As for the top, I would be a little daring. I put on a sleeveless shirt, with sketchy flower prints that was splashed across it from the top left hand corner. I was about to turn to go downstairs, but I chickened out and grabbed my jacket, slipping my arms into it, before bouncing down the stairs, back into the kitchen.

I found Edward leaning against the kitchen bench, staring out of the window. The mild sunlight sent his flawless skin glittering softly, and I couldn't help but marvel at him. After what seemed like an age, I hadn't moved an inch, and he turned his head to look at me. I quickly faced down, embarrassed, by cheeks of course, flushing.

I heard his quiet laugh and then he was next to me, pulling me towards the door. Of course, I had no choice to follow. We walked to his car, which he promptly started and we hurtled down the driveway. I closed my eyes.

"There's just no possibility that you could ever want to drive _slowly_, is there?" I muttered.

I heard him laugh quietly, his hand taking mine.

"Bella, Bella, Bella… How many times have I told you that you don't need to worry about my driving? I am accident free, unlike yourself." He boasted playfully.

I scowled at him. "And how many times have I told you that I _do_ worry about your driving?"

Edward pretended to think for a moment, turning his golden eyes back to the road. I sneaked a peak under my lashes, and saw that we were just exiting Forks. Already. I shifted uncomfortably in the leather seat.

"About the same." He admitted.

We drove on in silence, with me slowly opening my eyes, still not trying to look out the window or at Edward's face. I stared at my lap, entwining my fingers, fidgeting with the zipper on my jacket. Unreasonable electricity sparked at my fingers, I couldn't seem to stay still. I felt annoyed, irritated, thrilled, and those combined emotions made me hyper. He caught my hand just as I started zipping and unzipping my jacket. I looked up into his amused golden eyes.

"Bella, what are you doing?"

I dropped my eyes, and he pulled one of my hands free again, pulling it up to use the back of my hand to touch his cheek. I felt my stomach knot up as it did every time I touched him, so I let my eyes wander out the window. All I saw was a curtain of green foliage, sliding by so fast that the trees seemed to blend into each other. I decided that it would be better if I looked away.

Instead my eyes drifted to his face – all the worse for me. He turned his beautiful golden eyes to me, they were surprisingly gentle. I stared back – forgetting that when he was looking at me, he wasn't looking at the road.

Only when I started to blush did I look away. Too soon the car stopped at the Cullen's gorgeous mansion, and Edward flashed to my side of the car, opening the door for me. I was so accustomed to his inhuman speed, I barely noticed it.

"I can walk now, you know." I told him as I stepped out, ignoring his outstretched hand, and immediately narrowly avoiding twisting my ankle on a pebble.

Edward smirked at me, walking over and taking my head in his hands. "That doesn't stop you from trying to break your leg again every other second." He whispered into my ear.

I just stood there, frozen, feeling his fingers dance lightly over my jacket, with just enough weight that I could feel his cool fingers tapping down my spine as he touched his cold lips gently to mine. My own hands were ridiculously limp on his chest, but sooner than I'd have wished he pulled away, releasing my head but taking my hand as we started to walk up the grassy slope.

"Why are we coming here?" I asked, after a minute of collecting my jumbled thoughts. "I thought you said Alice was waiting for us at the mall. Unless you're planning to sabotage her plan…?" I added, too scared to be hopeful.

Edward shrugged, but I caught a sly glint in his eye. "Alice had a change of plans I think."

I squinted at him suspiciously. "I'm sure I'm going to regret this." I muttered under my breath, mostly to myself as the house door approached even closer. It loomed ahead rather menacingly, twice the size of my door back at Forks.

Of course he heard my little remark, even though I barely heard it myself. Edward's hand tightened around mine, his cool touch rubbing the back of my hand, trying to calm me down, even though he was smirking. I wondered briefly what Alice was thinking, but I couldn't help but relax at his tough though, which was as good as Jasper's strange gift, but it didn't help my mind constantly worrying about my fate for the day.

I felt my sense of foreboding increase as we approached the house, and as if to encourage my feeling, the sky darkened, hiding the sun behind a layer of thick grey clouds that wasn't there this morning. My apprehension must've shown on my face. I saw Edward glance at me, and then widen his smirk.

"This is the only time you've approached this place with the proper look on your face." He remarked, still smirking.

"Oh, ha ha ha," I retorted, my voice sarcastic. "I suppose it's the best thing in the world, isn't it, if I were frightened of you."

"Well it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world now, would it?" he murmured softly, almost as if to himself. I wondered if he meant for me to hear it. Then he turned to me, his mood deliberately bright. "Not to say that it isn't more than a bit amusing." Edward added, a wicked smile playing around his lips.

I refused to let him change the subject. "I'm not giving up on this and you know it." I said between clenched teeth.

"I have no idea what you mean." He said, even though his stride become a little longer and his body tenser as soon as the words were out of his mouth.

"You know exactly what I mean." I frowned at him, feeling a slight edge of annoyance creep into me. Ever since that he had found that I wouldn't change my mind about it, Edward had begun ignoring me every time the subject was cropped up, or if that failed changing the subject. And when he turned his eyes on me, he was usually get his way.

Edward turned, his golden eyes turning a shade darker even as I watched, but still managing to effectively smolder at me. I let the subject drop, walking along meekly as he pulled me towards the door. It would take more than that to make my annoyance disappear though.

"Cheater…" I muttered under my breath, deliberately making my footsteps long and slow. He noticed the change in my pace as I got dragged along behind him, trailing further and further behind. He turned to me, slightly exasperated.

"Bella, can you just please go along with this?"

I set my mouth, not willing to answer, keeping my eyes determinedly away from his face. He wasn't having it. Taking my face in his hands, Edward forced my eyes to meet his. I swear that I saw the gold swirling in them. However, as strong as my will was, it didn't stand a chance against him. I felt myself crumbling in his hands, and nodded submissively, even though I was still annoyed. Edward smiled, kissing me softly before turning to the front of the house.

I scowled at Edward, but he ignored me, leaving me to scowl at his back as he reached out one pale, no longer glittering hand to open the front door. With a soft sigh, it swung open.

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_**AN:** I spent about two hours adding words to this so it could be long enough… lol. 3000 seems to be pretty short, but I couldn't think of anything else. I promise the next chapter will be longer, but I might drag it on to enhance your image of me x) lol. I finished this one at 1am in the morning… I had the clock next to me _

_As I said, please review. Even if it's just three words saying 'I read it' would be nice. Also, as I said, constructive criticism wanted! Praise is good too ;)_

_xx Athemia_


	2. Captured by Alice

_**AN:** -drum roll- Chapter Two is here! –gasp– lol it doesn't have much to do with the plot yet though. But if you're really careful you'll notice some small points that will be used in later chapters… I know that last chapter I said that I wouldn't talk too much about Bella shopping, but I couldn't resist. This won't go on for too long though, only about one or two more chapters… ;) In the fourth chapter I swear I'll stop rambling. I want to say a thank you to my first couple of reviewers, you guys are awesome :) Particularly to my first reviewer, Disturbed Avocado, who reviewed about an hour after the story was posted. Sorry about the late chapter, I promise the next one will go quicker :)_

_On another note, I read Alphie's Author Notes a few days ago at school, and was shocked, amazed, and slightly jealous to see that she had already gotten a copy of New Moon. It's coming out here in Australia in either August or October, but not unlike many **Twilight** fans I want to read it in the very, VERY near future. I'm thankful to Alphie that she hadn't revealed anything, but that just puts me on tender hooks even more. Anyhow, enough of my dribble, I'm going to get to the story. _

_**Disclaimer:** I shall throw tantrums and weep but **Twilight** still belongs to Stephanie Meyers. _

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**Chapter Two**

**Captured… by Alice**

I had one swift view of the house's wide and beautiful interior before something huge and furry was thrown on me, effectively covering more than half my entire body. I couldn't even gasp as I almost fell to the floor, had not Edward been there. His ever ready arms grabbed me, and I righted myself (with his help), throwing the thing off as soon as I had regained my easy to lose balance, glaring.

It seemed to be an extremely big and heavy, fur lined coat. What it was for I had no idea. I looked up to see Alice looking slightly embarrassed, her arms full of similar coats, varying in colours from white to black to brown again. She rushed forwards, taking the huge mass of fur off the clean tiled floor, and flicking it on top of the pile that was already in her hands. I could barely see her.

"Oops, sorry Bella, I didn't see you there." She said freely, but avoiding Edward's glare.

"You know, I'm having serious doubts to you letting me go anywhere alone with her." I said playfully, crossing my arms, trying to lighten his mood.

"So am I." Edward was still scowling.

Alice smiled apologetically. Edward continued to scowl at her. She stepped back meekly, but also took my hand as she dragged me to her bedroom. How she managed that without dropping everything she was already carrying was beyond me. I stumbled along behind her graceful skip, my face still burning. I could feel Edward's apprehensive gaze on my back as Alice closed the door to her bedroom. I'm sure I had the same look on my face.

I turned around as the door clicked shut behind me, noticing the colour change in her room. I turned to see two colossal wardrobes, and a couch that was more of a bed, along with a massive entertainment system. I turned to Alice, who was busily rummaging through the wardrobe that was closest to me. I could see even from where I was standing the racks and drawers full of clothes, with the labels still on them. I had a horrified suspicion about what, or more importantly, _who_ they were for.

"Alice…" my tone was warning, but instead of answering me, she had quickly thrown out a woolen jumper and a pair of jeans, followed quickly by a scarf, shoes, another pair of jeans and about five different cotton tops with a jacket. All I could do was stare at the pile of clothes at my feet as she stuck her head out of the wardrobe and closed the door, apparently satisfied with what she had chosen.

"That's all you should need for now. Go get changed, the bathroom's in there." She said, her voice bright and quirky. She turned back to the closet, and started to fit all the mammoth cloaks into it. They barely fit.

I folded my arms stubbornly. "You have got to stop doing that!" I complained. "I have about twice as many clothes as I should because of you. Now you've even got another whole wardrobe!"

I hadn't even finished my little speech before she was at my side and pushing me gently with her arms laden with clothes towards the bathroom. She didn't reply, and sooner than I had expected I was in the bathroom, the door clicking shut behind me, the pile of clothes still at my feet. I looked around moodily.

The place was completely white. The towels, the tiles, the sinks, the mats… I shook my head, intending to turn around and march right back out. Or so I thought I could. I grasped the handle, and to my dismay it was locked. From the outside.

"Alice!" I shouted, pounding on the door.

"Have you changed already?" Her surprised voice came from outside the door, though a little sarcastic.

"Open the door!" I complained, just as loudly.

"Bella just put on the clothes and I'll let you out." She replied patiently, but I heard a smile in her voice.

I turned to the heap of clothes on the white tiled floor, glowering at them if it was their fault that I was locked up in here. It was partly true. I picked up a pair of navy blue jeans, which glittered every time I moved it in the light. Despite my outrage, I pulled them on. They fit perfectly, of course. I found myself looking at my reflection in the long mirror that was anchored to the wall, turning around. They did look good…

Suddenly I found myself rummaging through the pile of clothes that Alice had thrown in with me. I didn't look twice at the pink top, but my hand lingered over a white blouse, with sleeves that would end in ruffles over my hands. I pulled that one on, and knocked on the door again.

"Alice… I'm done…"

The door opened a millimeter, and she checked to see if I was actually done, before flying wide open. Alice cast a criticizing look over my arms crossed figure, before bounding over to a rectangular box on her dressing table. I followed, curious, and gasped as she pulled out a pair of earrings that had thin silver chains draping from it and a pair of blue diamonds embedded in them that seemed pretty real. Not that I was a geologist expert or anything. She also took out a hair band, and with one quick movement I found it binding my head.

Another quick flash of her long pale hand and she was staring at me happily, her brilliant obsidian eyes flickering continuously over my frame. I touched the lobe of my ears, not wanting to look into the mirror. Sure enough, the earrings were there. Alice continued to look at me happily as I scowled at her, not seeming deterred at my stormy expression. She picked up a brush, flicking it through my hair in blindingly fast strokes. Not surprisingly, I barely felt a tug.

"You look gorgeous in those earrings." She gushed, putting the brush down about ten seconds later. She pranced around me, her eyes still dancing over my slouching frame. "You can keep them. I never wore them anyway. Plain silver's more my style." She said, glancing at her own reflection in the mirror critically. I felt insignificant compared to her beauty.

"I can't keep these!" I exclaimed, shocked. The earrings were beautiful, the diamonds glittering every time that I moved my head the slightest inch. They surely would've cost a fortune, how she could just give these to me was surprising enough. I was wondering how much money the Cullens actually had, when Alice sprayed something onto me.

"Hey!"

Alice didn't even seem to hear me. I felt myself stumbling along besides her again as she pulled me out of her room and down the stairs, and before I knew it we were in the hall again. Edward was waiting for us, his pale fingers tapping at the keys of the grand piano.

As I was pulled stumbling down the stairs, I watched him as he played on piece over and over again, each time adding new notes to the tune. He looked up as our footsteps clattered down the stairs, and I saw his eyes instantly find me. I flushed for no particular reason as he stood up and walked to us, human pace, and his arms circled around my waist. Alice beamed at us from the side as if she had hand crafted me herself.

"You look beautiful." He murmured into my ear.

"And um… what was all this for?" I mumbled, feeling my cheeks heat up at Alice's presence.

He laughed softly. "Alice wanted to spend some time with you. She wanted to dress you up a bit before we left."

I glared at her. Her wide, innocent expression didn't fool me one bit. I scowled, but she held that sweet smile on her face. I turned back to Edward, eyes scrutinizing him.

"She's not taking me shopping, is she?"

Before Edward could open her mouth to open, Alice piped up. "Yeah, I am."

My eyes widened in horror, before my mouth set. "I won't let you." I said stubbornly.

Edward's eyes were dancing, laughing at me. I tried to scowl at him. Key word: tried. Instead I found myself seconds later being pulled along by Alice, into the car. I didn't go quietly, but they paid my small temper tantrums about as much attention as they would do a tree in Forks.

With Edward's senseless driving, we drove out of Forks soon enough, but I didn't bother asking where we were going. I didn't really want to know, because then I'd be seeing how quickly we would get there. I tried not to look at how fast everything slid by us, even though I was looking out the window. If I didn't, I would just look at Edward, and with Alice there, it didn't seem like the right time to ogle. I turned to Alice instead to relieve my boredom and slight anxiety.

"So, Alice, what are you going to do to me?" I asked pleasantly, as if I was looking forwards to her dragging me towards doom.

Her face brightened into a wicked smile. "Oh, you'll see soon enough."

"Alice!" I knew I sounded whiny. But I shuddered to think about what would happen if she had me locked in a dressing room…

"Bella, what's your problem with people buying things for you? A lot of people are dying for that chance." She said lightly, leaning forwards.

I thought I saw Edward stiffen at her words. Maybe he took that too seriously… I saw Alice's eyes flicker to him, a slight frown touching her pale face. But the moment was so brief, I wondered if I imagined it. Alice's sly eyes were back on me again in less than a second.

"It'll be fun Bella. Trust me."

"Fun for _you, _not me," I corrected my eyes shrewd. I could guess why Edward would've acted like that. "And as to me trusting you, I think I would rather sprout feathers and wings before letting you take me shopping."

Alice shrugged. "You should get used to it you know." She said lightly, and I saw Edward's frame tighten a bit more. Now I definitely knew why he was acting like that.

I turned back to face the open window, bracing myself to confront him. "If you're going to keep reacting like this every time it's mentioned, why don't you just get it over and done with?" I mumbled into the wind, but I knew he heard.

"Bella, we're not discussing this now." His voice was calm, but ringing with authority.

For once I stayed silent without the use of his eyes. I glanced at the clock. It had almost been half an hour. A stiff silence stretched between us, and I peeked at Edward. He was glaring straight ahead, even though I knew that he could drive well enough blindfolded.

His hands that were gripping the wheel had turned even whiter than it usually was – I think he was trying not to crush the steering wheel. His golden eyes were tight, not that light anymore. I sighed, turning to look out the window again. I wish I didn't. I quickly turned back, carefully avoiding looking at the speedometer. Still, I couldn't help voicing an opinion.

"You _really_ should drive slower. What's your rush?"

"I'm not rushing." He said, a small forced smile touching his lips. His eyes didn't lighten though. "Alice is – she wants to drag you through as many stores as possible. Right now she's thinking about what colour earrings would go with a blue dress she's put on lay-by for you." He ended, smirking.

"Alice…" 

She looked unrepentant. "What do you think Bella? The dress is navy with silver trimmings, so I'm thinking about these cute earrings I saw at a discount shop. They had diamonds in the center and as a border, and there are a lot of engravings and patterns on the actual silver too. They come in silver or a sapphire pair… what colour would go best with navy? You've got brown hair, so I'm thinking silver, but the sapphire would go better then silver with the dress… Cause it's got the diamonds anyway."

I found myself scowling again. "I'm not giving an opinion on something I don't want." I refused stubbornly.

"Okay then." Alice turned to Edward. "What do _you_ think?"

Edward thought. Alice would probably be imagining the images right now… "Silver." He decided.

"I thought so too." She said, smiling brightly.

Edward stopped the car. I looked up, copping an eyeful of neon bright lights, which managed to blind me even in daylight. I looked around. The Volvo had turned into a busy street, and I saw about one hundred people all hurrying different directions, shooting apprehensive glances at the grey sky. I turned to look at Alice questioningly.

"Are you sure it's not going to rain?"

Alice shrugged. "I know when it's going to rain. I'll have you trapped in a shop by then." She said, grinning evilly.

I turned to Edward, my face pouting. "You're supposed to take care of me. How are you supposed to do that with her here giving me a load of misery?"

He grinned. "Well, I for one don't see why you're complaining so much."

"Meaning, roughly that you don't care if she traps me in one of those things." I said snippily, glaring at a shop that we drove by, with a large frilly dress up for display. I gave Alice a death stare as Edward slid into a tiny spot between two black cars. "If you dare to make me try on of those I'll-"

"Time for threats later Bella," Alice chirped, getting out of the car at human speed and pulling me out on my side. "Save your energy for shopping."

I grabbed Edward's hand, glaring at him. "And you're just going to let me go like this?" I demanded, ignoring Alice who was trying to tug me out of the car.

He thought for a moment. "No."

Before I could sigh in relief, he had bent over and placed a soft kiss on my lips. My heart stopped. He pulled away too soon though, and he was grinning. "Now you can go."

"Oh, thanks a lot." My sarcasm was marred a bit by my breathlessness.

Edward just smiled slyly at me, before Alice tugged more persistently at my sleeve.

"Bella, come on! I need to go somewhere!" she said impatiently, continuing to tug on my sleeve, the white ruffles fluttering in the breeze. I turned, getting out of the car with exaggerated slowness, wondering where she needed to go in such a hurry. I shot an apprehensive glance at the shop we just passed, the frilly dress visible even with my eyesight.

"You know how much you're going to pay for this?" I warned Edward sourly.

He raised one eyebrow, faking confusion, his eyes wide. "Shouldn't you be punishing Alice?" he asked innocently, "I mean, it is her that's dragging you into all this…"

"No," I insisted, "you're letting her do this to me; therefore it's your fault." I considered it for a moment. "It's also because punishing you holds more attraction than punishing Alice." I added, smirking, before glanced at her. "No offense."

She shrugged, smiling. "Oh, none taken, I'd do anything to avoid torture." She said, grinning malevolently.

Edward looked at her, his expression finally a bit bothered. "What's she got planned?"

Alice shook her head, still grinning. "Poor Edward." Was all she said. She turned to me. "Now, come on, Bella!" She returned to her tugging.

I gave up, and let Alice drag me into the twisted throngs of people. In moments, I lost sight of Edward, who was still looking our way even as he pulled the Volvo away from the sidewalk.

As soon as I lost sight of him, I turned to Alice, who was threading her way through the thick crowds as easily as a snake. I tried keeping up with her, but found myself tripping at least three times. She tightened her grip on my arm. I saw many heads turn as she passed them, but I lost sight of the curious people as soon as I saw them. We weaved through the crowds for at least five minutes.

"Alice! Where are we going?" My voice was breathless. People were pushing in on all sides, heads continuously flicking back towards us.

"We are going to a really good shop that I know. Come on, we'll be out of the crowd soon." I barely heard her soprano voice over the roar of the cars and people.

After another five minutes, she turned a corner, and we were suddenly free of the tight pressing crowds. There were maybe five people walking along this street. The sudden emptiness made me nervous, and my face showed it.

"Why do we have to go to this shop? What's so special about this shop? I mean, there are many shops back in those crowded streets…"

"Come on Bella," Alice danced ahead, not sharing my worry. "There's a good shop down here. Not many people know about it, that's why they don't come here. Which is a good thing, cause then there are a bigger selection for us to choose from."

I followed unwillingly. "What do you mean _good_ shop?"

She turned to me, still walking backwards without seeming unbalanced. "I mean, as in really good style and really cheap prices."

"And really fancy dresses?"

"Maybe there is, maybe there isn't." She said, smirking.

"Alice, you are not making me wear a dress."

She didn't reply.

"Alice? Did you hear me?"

"Bella, just wait and see!"

"What? See what? You're probably going to use me as another mannequin or something." I continued to grumble.

We turned another corner, and still I saw nothing.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" My nervousness was plain in my voice now too. "I mean, what shop would want to be in such an isolated area like this?"

Alice still seemed undeterred. "Bella, do you think anyone would be able to hurt you with me here?"

"No, but you could hurt me. You know," I made my voice sarcastic. "Alice the Invincible, armed with her trusty side kicks Scissors and Silk."

She snickered, pulling me along. "Nice title. I'll just stick with Alice though." She paused suddenly. I looked around, seeing no door. Everything was still the same, concrete walls, a few trees that were laced with brown leaves. "In here."

I turned my eyes to where she was heading, and stopped. "In _there_?" I stared incredulously at her.

It was an alleyway, the entrance shorter than Alice, and completely black with no light to light the way. Alice didn't seem to have brought a torch. In my own opinion, I did not scare easy, but my stomach clenched up anyway as I thought about going into there. Black tunnel, endless, echoing, soft groans that came from neither of us as we approached the darkness that stretched on and on… There would probably be spiders and other creepy crawlies too, falling from the ceiling into my clothes… I repressed a shudder. Alice, on the other hand, seemed as bright as ever as stepped into the hole.

"It's perfectly safe, perfectly clean," she promised. She reached out one pale hand, and ran a finger on the wall. "See?" she held it up for me. There wasn't even dirt. "Clean."

"What kind of shop is in there?" I was disbelieving. "I mean, who would even go in there? What kind of wacko would want to have a shop in a hole like that? How could you even fit a shop into a hole like that?"

Alice reached out to pull me inside. I stepped away.

"I'm not going in there. You know that shopping's bad enough, but who said that I had to go creeping into some tunnel?" I complained.

"Bella, you'll be fine. I promise that there's nothing in here to be afraid of."

"Oh really." I raised an eyebrow at her. "I can list three things I should be afraid of right now."

Alice pulled back her hand, her face patient. "Go on then."

I held up three fingers, ticking them off one by one. "One, it is dark. I mean, how could you go shopping in darkness?"

"There are lights inside you know." She interrupted. "It's not like I'm taking you to a bar or something. These people just want customers they like to shop in here."

I ignored her, struggling on. "Two, what kind of shop makes it's entrance an alleyway about one meter tall?"

Alice interrupted me again. "Well you can't expect everyone to be tall, can you?"

I was heedless. "Three, you're in that tunnel."

At that she just laughed. "Come on Bella, don't be ridiculous." She reached out for me again, stepping out of the tunnel.

"I don't want to go in there!" My voice was half frightened and half irritated. "Have you listened to what I just said at all?"

"Well since I replied I think that I have been listening." Alice was pushing me towards the door. With her strength, there was nothing I could do to stop her.

"Edward should be preventing something like this. He let you capture me." I accused no one in particular. "Where is he, anyway?"

"Bella, come on!"

By now I was half engulfed in the shadows. I flung my hands out, gripping onto the edge of the walls. "I don't want to."

Alice used one hand and prized my hands free. Reluctantly, I surrendered and let her pull me into the gloom. My hand was clenched on Alice's wrist, and her pale skin seemed to glow in the dimming light. As we were drawn further and further into the shadows, a dozen death wishes flew across my mind. I tried to clear my suddenly dry throat.

"I'm going to regret this…"

The last few words that came out of my mouth before shadows encased us and I lost sight of Alice completely.

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_**AN:** There you go. Does that ending count as a cliffy? I don't think so. Obviously Bella can't get into to much trouble with Alice there… but I'm ruining the moment :P Next Chapter shall be the end of Bella shopping, with Edward taking her home, along with a few little moments at the end and the middle that I hope you will laugh at. I finished this story at a more reasonable time – about 10pm x) lol. This chapter wasn't as long as I wanted it to be though, because I'm writing on my laptop and I can't find my battery cable anywhere. There's about 20 electricity left in here before it runs out, so I'm just going to stop writing around about now…_

_Now, before I go though, you should go click on that lovely blue button there on your left, and you will get a nice surprise –fingers crossed– Go on! Click it! _


	3. Attack of the Beans

_**AN:** I won't bother with too much of an Author's Note, so you can get to the story quicker ;) _

_**Disclaimer:** Thou shall die a thousand deaths before thou can write such a masterpiece like **Twilight**. All brilliance, alas, belongs toMiss Meyer. _

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**Chapter Three**

**Attack of the Beans…**

"Alice?"

My voice echoed in the dark tunnel. My heart pounded erratically, and my hands gripped the edges of the walls as I lost sight of the shadow that was more solid than others. I really regretted this. As my imagination plunged into overdrive, every sound, every movement scared me, even if it was my own. The only thing that told me that Alice was there was her dancer's step echoing down the tunnel in front of me.

"Alice where are you?"

"Right here Bella. We're here."

"Where is here? And where are you? I can't see anything!" My voice was frantic. In any other situation I would've been embarrassed.

"Calm down Bella! Right here, I'll show you."

I felt Alice's cold hand grip my shoulder. I felt enormously relieved that the nightmarish journey was over, but I saw nothing different in our surroundings. Black, black… that bit of black seemed lighter than the rest of the blackness… Somewhere in the gloom, Alice pulled me towards her, and suddenly the darkness fell away. The light glared at me from the darkness, blinding me. My arms shot up in front of my face, and I think I hit something. A sharp pain rippled from my elbow.

"Ouch!"

"Bella, come over here… and try not to fall over anything." I thought I heard her laughing.

When my eyes had adjusted to the brightness, my arms fell to my sides limply. As I took in my surroundings, my eyes opened wide in shock. Alice brought me forwards, and I was only vaguely aware that she was almost lifting me up, trying to drag me forwards without tripping me over. I just continued to gape.

The place was _gorgeous_.

Racks and racks of the most beautiful clothes, varying from royal blue to creamy pink, from silver to gold, deep orange to a light shade of violet, hung from stands that were pure silver encased with either glitter or diamonds. The clothes themselves seemed fit for a queen. Everything had at least five diamonds in them, silk and lace threaded into the gowns so delicately that even I thought that it went perfectly. There was everything from formal ball gowns you would see in the 'olden days', more modern dresses you would see celebrities wearing at the red carpet, to casual dress like jeans and cotton tops, and even they seemed like something out of a fairytale, made so finely that I couldn't even see the seams. All the clothes in here were at least five hundred dollars each… how could I afford any of it?

I turned my eyes away from the clothes, marveling at the room we were in. The floor had off-white tiles on them; each one had a pattern swirling in them that were painted a soft gold. The walls were as if pulled out of a fifteenth century castle. Crimson and golden wall paper, matching drapes, golden frames with complicated patterns that had been engraved onto the wood, even the people in the pictures seemed very much as beautiful as vampires.

I froze. This thought jolted me back to the present. A place only Alice knew… I tore my eyes away from the decoration, and back to Alice, who was currently breezing past a rack of dresses which were all colour coordinated and I think I saw one of those golden ones in a sixteenth century movie. I wondered if she was actually going to buy one of these for me…

"Alice?"

She turned her head briefly.

"Yes?"

"Who owns this shop?" I found myself whispering.

"Oh, some friends of ours."

I found my suspicions raised by her answer. Instead of voicing them though, I just followed her around the place. The next rack we came to had about ten different tops, each one hand sown with such accuracy and detail I could barely see were each colour had blended into another. I was afraid to touch it.

"Alice, you aren't seriously going to buy me one of these, are you?"

"Of course not!" She sounded extremely surprised.

I sighed with relief, but was a little confused. "Good, because I thought that…"

Alice continued, acting like I hadn't spoken. "Did you think that I would've dragged you all the way here to buy _one_ of them? You've got to be kidding! We are going to get you an abundance of these clothes!" She said with a flourish, dancing on to another rack.

My relief instantly disappeared. "I won't wear them." I warned her, following.

She turned to grin at me slyly. "Of _course_ you'll wear them. Edward likes this place as much as I do and he comes here all the time."

I rolled my eyes, understanding her mention of Edward. Of course _Edward_ would be able to get me to wear one of these. "But these," I plucked at a silver sleeve of a muslin dress, "These are all too… beautiful to be worn in Forks. Have you actually seen what ordinary people wear?"

Alice shrugged, drifting gracefully towards a more crowded rack. "It all depends on what you choose to wear…"

She slipped a jacket from its rack. It was a light coffee colour with fur lined sleeves, collar and hems, one of those puffy ones people always wear at the snow. It would almost have been perfect had it not had diamonds as buttons.

"This for example would be perfect, especially if Forks decides to snow again. Go try it on."

"No, I won't. I'd probably get mobbed if I wore it. You try it on." I said, turning around.

Suddenly I found the jacket in my hands and I was facing the dressing rooms.

"Try it on." Alice insisted, before shutting the door behind me.

I sighed, finding the situation uncomfortably familiar. I turned and eyed the brown piece of clothing in my hand, before taking my jacket off.

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"See, that wasn't too hard. You look great!"

"It's all thanks to you, you know."

We were back in the open, walking down the now less crowded streets. I was wearing a new dress despite my previous negative views. It was a light russet colour, sequins of lilies stitched all over it. Alice also bought me a jacket to wear on top. It was extremely light, and a tan colour, ruffles at the end of each sleeve and of course, laced with golden tinsel and what I suspected to be two diamonds as a trinket. Also she had snagged a pair of flats (I had refused the heels) that had bronze oriental patterns. Alice had been going through this brown 'faze', and everything in the bags she had bought me varied from shades of brown to yellow to orange to red.

"Alice, tell me how much this cost, please?"

She stubbornly shook her head.

I sighed. She had refused to show me the receipt, and the clothes didn't have a price tag either. All she did was flash her credit card through a self-serve machine and we were out, carrying two fully loaded bags. I had to repeatedly open them to check that I actually had those beautiful pieces of clothing.

"They won't disappear, Bella."

Alice had a smile on as she led me into another shop. I hesitated, peeked at the windows, and followed as they showed no ruffles or chiffon on display.

Alice seemed to know exactly where she was going, dancing down the aisles, pulling clothes into her arms as quickly as she ran past the shelves.

"Can you please slow down?" I called, almost running in my attempt to stop her.

Alice slowed her pace, but her long pale arms still continued to flash out, collecting clothes like a hurricane.

"Not your pace," I said, irritated as she pulled about the fifth pair of jeans from the rack, "You're shopping. I'm not going to wear all of these things Alice, I won't be able to live that long."

"Of course you will live that long. We both know Edward just needs convincing about it…" She murmured distractedly.

I watched her, amazed. "You don't mind I want this then?" my voice was too hopeful.

"Of course I don't mind. He knows that you want this, and it's not like I'm holding back my thoughts from him." She said, winking at me.

I smiled at her. "But you really shouldn't annoy him _too_ much though." I fussed.

She shrugged. "With Edward, you just need to stand your ground. He's like a lion behind bars, he's scary but he won't hurt you."

"So you're admitting that he's scary?" I looked at her, amused.

She dumped five pairs of different pants into my arms before turning to go look at more. "Even Emmett would admit he's scary. But like I said, he wouldn't hurt you."

I pushed the pants away, throwing them onto a random rack. "Course he won't." my voice was subtly sarcastic.

Alice hopped ahead of me, and pulled all the pants that I threw away back into her arms. I scowled, following behind. We turned the corner to another row of about a hundred dresses, and I saw a pimply assistant who was sorting a rack of black dresses further down eyeing Alice. This raised my mood slightly, and I turned back to Alice, smirking.

She sensed my change in mood, even with her back to me. Turning, with about three dresses hanging from her arms, but still managing to look breathtakingly beautiful and graceful, she dumped half her load onto me. I staggered under the enormous weight.

"You seem to be feeling better, so go try these on."

"Its going to take me all afternoon to even try and look through all of these clothes, much less than wear them!" I retorted, scowl back in place. "Besides, I was only smiling because you're attracting a lot of attention." I added, snickering.

Alice threw a look over her shoulder. The clerk brightened as he caught her eye, and his walk down the aisle towards us instantly became more of a strut. I smirked.

"Well, he obviously has a problem."

Alice ignored him. "Why?"

I took clothes off Alice's load, putting them back on racks. "He thinks that you'll be interested by him."

Alice shrugged, warding me off so I couldn't snatch anymore clothes. "Well he doesn't know that Jasper exists, does he?" she said, now also smirking.

I saw out of the corner of my eye the assistant coming even closer. "Can we go?"

"You haven't tried anything on!" she said, indignant.

"I don't want to." I said sulkily.

"Bella, the quicker you try these on the quicker we can get out of here." She said, waving a pair of jeans in front of my face.

I snatched them, throwing them back onto the rack. "Okay, but I'll only be trying on five tops and five pants. No more. You'll have to choose."

She frowned. "Ten."

"Five."

"Eight."

"_Five_."

"Six."

I sighed. "Fine."

She pulled me towards the dressing rooms and threw six different tops and jeans after me, along with about ten different scarves and hats.

"There's a limit to accessories too you know!" I shouted.

"You didn't say that. Now if you want to get out of there you better hurry Bella." Her cheerful voice said.

Still grumbling to myself, I turned to the mirror, crossing my arms. This circumstance was definitely too familiar.

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"So, are you hungry?"

"Um, you actually want my opinion on something?"

Alice had finally stopped her shopping-mania, and we were sitting at a coffee table next to a little café. I was embarrassed at all the bags next to us; there had to be at least five. I'd never shopped so much in my life, and little paranoid me kept thinking that everyone that walked past us was staring. Which they probably were – if it wasn't at the bags, it was at Alice.

"Of course I want your opinion. So, what do you like eating?"

I shrugged, looking down at the row of little cafés, nothing really catching my eye.

"Isn't there someplace else to look?"

"Yes… Down here."

Alice had picked up the four bags at her feet with one hand and I stood up, reaching out for one. She stopped me, taking them herself.

"I can't let you carry all of them!" she ignored my protesting, starting to walk down the street.

"Edward didn't want you to strain yourself. I wholly agree with him." She said over her shoulder.

I rushed to keep up with her. "I won't strain myself by carrying one bag."

"Well, you could."

Alice was grinning, and I just stomped past with her, fuming.

"He doesn't need to treat me like a baby." I complained.

"Well, you don't really look after yourself, do you?"

"Excuse m-"

I was glaring at Alice, and not looking at where I was going, hence, I ran into the rubbish bin. Alice's hand shot out, grabbing me before I actually came into contact with concrete. I blushed, and quickly hurrying on, too aware of the stares following my back.

"As you were saying?" Alice was obviously repressing a giggle.

"You're as bad as Edward!" I complained.

"No I'm not." Alice said, still grinning.

Sighed, wrapping my jacket further around me, I agreed sullenly. "No, you're not."

We came to another row of small cafés, and I sat down in a random one, not wanting to walk on and stumble over anything again. Alice put all the bags besides her, and went in to ask for a menu. I pushed my hair back from my face as a gust of wind rushed towards me. Suddenly Alice was by my side.

"We can get a seat inside. It's getting windy."

"Oh, okay."

Like before, she snatched the bags before I could even lean over to reach for them. I followed behind meekly, and she slid into a seat right in the corner. I sat opposite her, and someone quickly brought us two menus.

"Hello, welcome to Gravel Bean. What can I get you?" The boy beamed.

I turned to look at the menu, and Alice waited patiently. Nothing for her of course. I flipped the menu randomly; not showing much interest in the contents, hoping the boy would take the hint and go serve someone else. However, that didn't happen, and he just stood there with the slightly frightening beam, looking from me to Alice. I decided to order something just so that he would go away.

"I'll have the… um… what does that say?"

"Mr. Gravel's beanlicious Beans! It's a house specialty, the beans are delicious."

He was really starting to scare me.

"Er, right, I'll just have a… Gravel Beans with Gravel Chicken?" That sounded completely bizarre, even to me.

"No, that's not that good. You'd be wanting Mr. Gravel's Gravy Gorge, it's the best there is!"

I was genuinely confused, and Alice was giggling. The boy sounded like someone advertising on screen every time he talked. I was regretting coming here…

"No, I'll just have… what I ordered before." I said, even though I tried to sound firm my 'statement' still came out like a question. Kind of.

"One GBGC coming up!"

He lingered at our table for a bit longer, looking at Alice, but she didn't even glance at him, so he went away. As soon as he was out of earshot, she burst out laughing. I scowled, throwing the menu aside. Honestly, what kind of place has a menu like _that_? Completely idiotic…

"You… should've… seen… your… face!" Alice gasped, still laughing.

I frowned, crossing my arms. "Is it just me, or is the world going insane?"

Alice was still laughing too much to answer me. She was still laughing when the boy came back with a plate. He also had a drink. I stared. It was brown. Not that kind of sweet chocolate kind of brown, brown as in mud. Brown as in… poop. Alice took one glance at it and cracked up laughing in silent giggles again. I looked at the boy, my expression controlled, and in a politely confused tone I asked what it was. I never ordered a drink.

"Well…" The boy blushed, stammering incoherently. "It's just a present. On the house by Mr. Gravel." He turned crimson.

"What is it though?" I was eyeing it cautiously, debating whether it was edible or not.

"Mr. Gravel's famous bean juice especially grounded to be extra thick." The boy said enthusiastically.

I wondered to myself if he ever said a sentence without the word 'Mr. Gravel'.

"Do I have to pay for it?"

"Nope." The boy looked around. "Just between you and I, Mr. Gravel doesn't need to know." He whispered, winking at me.

I wasn't impressed. He also just proved my theory – he couldn't say a proper sentence without the word 'Mr. Gravel'.

"Okay then. Thanks."

That was Alice. I looked at her incredulously. The boy however, beamed and strutted away, almost tripping over a chair that was behind him. Alice collapsed into giggles again, and I cautiously sniffed the brown cup's contents. When Alice recovered herself, she watched me, and I glared back at her.

"Do you really think that this is edible?" My voice was clouded with doubt.

"Of course it is." She said brightly.

I squinted suspiciously at her. "How do you know?"

Alive shrugged. "Well, those people by table four seem to be alive, even though they're making the worst faces."

I looked over. There was a family at table four, the mother and father watching their two children's faces anxiously as they sipped the brown muck. The first child was about two years old, still strapped to the stroller, and the bean juice immediately started dribbling down his chin. The second child was about seven – primary school stage. She was much more vocal.

"UGH!"

Everyone in the café turned to look. The boy who had been serving us bustled to their table, the girl still screaming and spitting out the juice onto the floor. Alice was giggling at my side again.

"What's wrong?" He seemed anxious, his gaze flickering back to the kitchen door.

The girl only lifted her head when she seemed to have got rid of all the juice that was left in her mouth.

"Miss, is you're kid okay?"

The boy seemed really stressed. I saw commotion behind the door that led to the kitchen. The sound of a few pots and pans clattering to the floor drew some people's attention away. The girl was pushing her cup away, spilling about half the contents of it, spilling the rest down the table. Finally she decided to answer.

"That juice is GROSS!"

Everyone started laughing. Alice kept her face straight, but I pushed my own cup of brown away, deciding that I was not going to try a drink like that. Just then, the door burst open, and who I guessed was either the cook or the boss came storming out.

He looked just like one of those chef mannequins pizza or pasta restaurants have in front of their shop holding up the daily specials. Large and beefy with a wide face that still managed to look all squashed up. The man wore a large white apron, and one of those chef's hats that slid down half his forehead. He even had one of those black curly moustaches. I was half expecting him to start shaking his fist at the terrified looking boy with his thumb and forefinger. His face was red, small eyes with black slits for pupils. I felt myself pitying the boy, despite the fact that he was the one that served me the 'famous bean juice'.

"What-a did-a you do, eh?" The man shouted.

_Italian accent! Boo yah! I was right!_ I thought to myself, half amused at my own idiotic thoughts.

"I didn't-" The boy stammered.

"My drink-eh is-a all brown! Did-eh you read the recipe book-eh at all Boy? It says-eh two scoops of beans and mix-eh with-a soy milk, heat-eh for five meenits! Not one scoop-eh of deary milk and heat-eh for ten meenits!"

The boy muttered something and slid back into the kitchen. The chef was still red, yelling as he chased after him. The café was silent for a minute, everyone fighting to keep from smiling, before Alice decided to break it.

"Well, can we please get a refund of this?" She raised the brown drink in the air.

Immediately another girl came running out from the kitchen door, her eyes had the same fearful look, snatching the drink.

"Sorry, madam." She murmured, before rushing back in, the door banging closed long after the girl had disappeared inside.

"You know what?" I said, breaking the resumed silence. "I've lost my appetite. Let's go."

Alice stopped me, raising up a hand like she was directing traffic. "You haven't eaten." She said, staring pointedly at my untouched plate.

"Did you hear me or not?" I complained, rising. "I've lost my appetite."

"Edward would want you to eat lunch, Bella." She commented.

"Well, since when were you like Edward?" I said, scowling.

Alice shrugged. "You know he won't let you leave unless you eat something." She said, but picked up the bags at her feet anyway, leaving a ten dollar bill on the table. I wondered if someone would take it after we left.

"Well he wouldn't know, would he, unless someone decided to thi – erm… tell him?" I blushed.

I had gotten so wrapped up in my argument with Alice I hadn't realized that we were the only ones talking. Everyone else were eating again, but obviously listening to our less than quiet conversation.

"If you're referring to me, then I'm offended." She said in a sulky voice.

I smiled at her tone, but she led the way, her smooth walk attracting attention, and her looks holding that attention. I hurried after her, out into the windy streets, anxious to see Edward again. Before we walked ten paces from the 'Gravel Bean' though, a pair of arms snared me from behind.

I dropped my bag in shock (it was only carrying my shoes that I wore before, Alice wouldn't let me carry anything else). Just as I was about to scream though, cold, but more importantly, _familiar_ lips kissed the back of my throat. I sighed in relief, which was instantly replaced by irritation.

"Don't do that!"

I hit him on the arm, knowing full well it would bother him less than a raindrop.

"Do what?"

I scowled as Edward turned me around to face him, his golden eyes dancing playfully.

"You know what." I muttered distractedly, dropping my eyes quickly to gather my scattered thoughts.

"I just heard a lot of commotion over here and thought I'd have a look. Then I saw you coming out so I thought that I would surprise you." He said, but he didn't sound repentant.

I pried myself out of his grasp, picked up my bag and marched up to Alice.

"Let's go." I said huffily.

Alice wore a smirk that was uncannily similar to Edward's as we walked down the street to the silver Volvo.

Edward and Alice, unsurprisingly, continued to draw stares as they walked down the street. I had my arm hooked loosely around Alice's and those curious eyes flickered towards me – eyes that held confusion. Probably thinking how someone so normal like me could be doing with such godly creatures. I was surprised that it didn't annoy me at all that Edward drew numerous eyes from the female population.

When we reached his Volvo, Edward opened the door for me, and Alice slid into the back along with all our shopping bags.

"So what was all the commotion about?" he asked as we hurtled down the streets.

I shared a look with Alice, and she smiled.

"You don't want to know…"

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_**AN:** Viola! Chapter Three is-a done :) Seriously, I'm on a roll, it's my longer chapter yet. I'll try to get down as much as I can cause then I get these blank periods where I can't think of anything at all :P If anyone wants to know, Gravel is a name I thought of from a Paul Jennings book. The one with the cow Jingle Bells… yeah. Not an Italian name but… meh. No offense to anyone with an Italian family, I just got that from Luigi, the pizza guy from 'The Simpsons', so no offense… _

_Chapter Four is on its way. But if you want it any quicker, you should click that blue button on the left there, to make me hurry up ;) I won't be posting it though, for at least four weeks, because my school exams are coming up and I've been banned from the computer until they're over. _

_xx Athemia _


	4. Phone Call

_**AN:** Well, I wanted to be nice to people, so here's chapter four :) you can't say that I'm not nice. My exams are coming up in two weeks though.This chapter was fluff at the beginning... I'd never written fluff before, it makes you feel so nice and happy… but I was watching the finale of 'The Biggest Loser' at the same time, so that might not have been purely from writing this story… ah well :P It gets more serious, it does, but I couldn't help being a little… girly lol. Okay, stopping now, getting to the story…_

_**Disclaimer:** I'm not brainy enough to write something as amazing as **Twilight**. All credit goes to Miss Meyer_

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**Chapter Four**

**Phone Call**

The silver car pulled up next to Charlie's house, and Edward quietly turned the engine off. I peered through the windows to see that Charlie was home. The lights were all on, even in my room. I wondered what he was doing… I turned to Alice, who had just gotten out of the car at human speed, unloading all the clothes she had bought me.

"Edward's going to need to see you wear these Bella." She said cheerfully.

"No he doesn't." My voice sounded whiny, even to me.

"Of course I do." Edward said, smiling.

I folded my arms. "Only if Alice tells me how much she spent on them."

Edward raised an eyebrow. Alice made a skeptical noise, before hauling everything outside.

"Why does it _matter_ how much she spent on it?"

"Because for all I know those shoes could've been one thousand dollars."

"Bella, you still haven't answered me. Why does it matter?"

Edward interrupted me scowling at Alice by taking my head in his hands, pulling my face towards his so I was staring into his golden eyes. I felt my annoyance flooding away and back simultaneously. He was such a cheater.

"Because then I won't let her take me shopping ever again." I muttered, trying to look elsewhere.

He laughed, letting me go. I was relieved and disappointed all at once. Struggling out of the car, I pulled one of the bags from Alice's grasp. Even as she protested, I marched to the door, unlocking it with the key. Edward was by my side by then, taking the key from me _and_ the bag.

I propped my hands on my waist as I glared at him. "I'm not helpless, you're treating me like I'm disabled!" I tried snatching the bag back.

Edward just gave me a smile, holding the bag out of my reach, and pushed me through the door, my feet dangling half a foot off the ground. He put me down when we entered the corridor.

Charlie was in the lounge, a mug in his hands and watching television… I think it was basketball. Or maybe baseball. I didn't have much time to analyze the scene, as both Edward and Alice ploughed ahead of me and suddenly the room seemed too small.

Resulting, of course, in me losing what little balance I had.

I capsized into a drawer, and my hip collided with the wood. I bit back a yelp, and staggered away. Edward flashed back to my side, holding me in his arms, but before he could say anything, Charlie had turned around to us, his face alarmed.

"Bella! Are you okay?"

I was about to speak when unexpectedly, Edward snickered. I turned to glare at him, forgetting about Charlie.

"Bella?" His hesitant voice brought me back to reality. I tore my eyes away from Edward. He was still smirking.

"Yeah, I'm fine dad." I struggled away from Edward, but instantly pain shot up my leg. "Ow!"

Charlie jumped up, but Edward had taken one step and supported me again. I gingerly hopped towards the door, one hand on his shoulder. Charlie seemed to be anxious, wondering if he should leave me or get to a hospital.

"I'll be fine, Ch- dad."

He seemed hesitant with leaving me alone with Edward, but Alice drifted towards him, and sat down.

"You should see all this stuff Bella bought!" she gushed, perfect teenager attitude. She reminded me subtly of Jessica. "We got dresses and she even let me get her a necklace-"

"Erm, that sounds nice." Charlie said awkwardly. I bit back a smile. "Maybe you could help Bella take it all up into her room?"

"Will do, Chief Swan." Edward said from my side, and Alice bounced back up again, her arms loaded, and the necklace dangling from one pale finger.

As soon as we were out of Charlie's sight, Edward had scooped me into his arms. If Charlie wasn't separated from us with a thin layer of wood, then I would've protested. However, now I could only sulk. I saw a faint smile touch his lips as he glided up the stairs with Alice trailing behind us slightly. He grinned down at me.

"You know Bella, why do you mind being waited on?" he teased.

"Because I don't need to be waited on!" I insisted, but he didn't put me down. I wondered if he was walking more slowly than usual just to taunt me. We just reached the top of the stairs. Despite my negativity on being waited on hand and foot, I wrapped my arms around his neck as he set me down on my bed. Alice wandered off, dumping the bags down before she disappeared. A corner of my mind realized this.

"What was that smirk for?" I demanded.

He shrugged, leaning back on my bed. I glared at him, though not looking straight into his golden eyes.

"Oh, Charlie was just thinking something… amusing." A grin flashed onto his face again.

I continued to glare, expectant. He pressed his lips together, silent, but couldn't stop a smirk flitting across his face.

"And?"

"He was thinking that you couldn't even walk into your own house for two minutes without causing an accident." He said, snickering.

I pouted. "Oh, nice to know even my own father thinks I'm clumsy."

Edward smiled, pulling me into his arms. "Bella, you are clumsy. There's no denying that fact." He teased, his cool breath blowing onto my neck. I shivered involuntarily. His hands slid down my arms, his cold fingers light as a gentle breeze. "But I love you just the way you are." He finished, brushing his cold lips along my neck.

"That's supposed to make me feel better?" I breathed, my hands clenching his wrists tightly.

Edward laughed softly, using one pale cold finger to brush back my hair. "Well it didn't make you feel any worse, did it?" he murmured, his nose brushing my ear.

I struggled to come up with an answer for that. Thankfully, I heard footsteps on the stairs, and I got up, somewhat reluctantly, to go sort through the things Alice had dumped onto my floor. I had just picked up the fifth dress when Charlie poked his head in, wearing his pajamas.

"Bed time Bella?" He asked, and I saw his eyes flicker towards Edward, who was staring out the window, a perfect statue of Adonis once again. "Edward?"

Edward turned his golden eyes to Charlie, and his lips turned up into a small smile. "Yes, Mr. Swan?"

I saw Charlie falter at Edward's innocent expression, and shook my head slightly. Charlie was an excellent police man, but he was _so_ gullible sometimes.

"I think that…" he hesitated.

I interrupted, not wanting Edward to leave so soon. "He should leave after he helps me put all this stuff away." I suggested, standing up with two tops slung over my shoulder.

"Erm, okay." Charlie exited awkwardly.

Edward turned to me, emptying a whole bag into his arms. "What are you thinking?" he asked quietly, hooking up the two dresses that Alice had bought me.

"Oh, nothing odd." I said, smiling at his expression.

What I had been thinking was indeed nothing odd. Just the normal 'how could I have ever been so lucky to have an angel like this' thought that I got once every… minute. Completely normal.

"Bella…"

I ignored him, turning to empty the fifth bag of clothes onto my bed. "I'm thinking now that I'm going to ignore you for a whole day if you let Alice take me shopping ever again."

He turned to me, exasperated. "How about telling me what you _were_ thinking?"

I pressed my lips together, and turned to get another pair of pants. These ones were bright banana yellow. I never would've bought that kind of colour myself, but Alice had _insisted_ that I try it on. To my surprise, I had loved it. Bright colours had never been 'me', but now it didn't seem too bad…

"Bella." Edward's voice snapped me out of my reverie, and I found myself folding a dress into a sock drawer.

"Yes?" I hastily grabbed a hanger.

"You're not telling me." He said, handing me another dress.

I frowned. I never realized that Alice had done so much extra shopping when I was in the dressing rooms… my wardrobe was running out of spare coat hangers. I glanced at my floor. There were still two bags left. I closed the door, and dumped everything onto the floor. From one bag about five pairs of shows came tumbling out.

The second bag, revealed none less than the most glamorous dress that I had _ever_ seen. It would take hours to describe it in proper detail. Even with the silk and chiffon, I found myself smoothing my hand over it again and again, wandering if I had dirt on my hands, and brushing it off, then wandering if I had gotten more dirt onto it because of my 'cleaning'.

The dress was pale lavender, so pale it was almost white. There were pearls strung into it at the waist line, and I found myself wondering if they were _real_ pearls. The material had so many patterns, so many decorations, I wondered if it would weigh more than _me_. I stared at it, for what seemed like hours, or days, my mouth slightly open.

Then Edward picked it up, twirling it around with one hand, inspecting it thoroughly. My eyes swirled with the dress.

"Quite nice." He commented.

"_Quite_ nice?" I choked out. All he could say was _quite_ nice? The dress seemed to give off a glow. I wondered if Alice meant to buy it for Rosalie and just mistakenly left it in my room. Edward smiled at my expression.

"I'm sure that Alice bought that for Rosalie." I said after a moment's, voicing my thoughts out loud.

"I'm sure I didn't."

Alice was at my door. I started. I forgot that she was still here…

"Alice, it's called OVER THE TOP. You don't buy things for people when they don't want you to."

"So you don't like it?"

"I…" I struggled to come up with something. I did like it. Scrub that. I _loved_ it. But if I said that, she'd just smile and give me that 'I told you so' look. But if I said that I didn't like it, it would be lying – something that I was terrible at – and she might get offended if she didn't see through my bluff.

Alice smiled at me cheekily. I saw Edward smirk. I turned and decided to vent a little frustration out on him. I started by slapping him on the arm.

"You're supposed to be backing me up!"

"How am I supposed to do that?" his tone was confused, but his golden eyes were amused.

"You could start by not letting her buy things for me." I said matter-of-factly.

"Aw, Bella, nothing under this whole _universe_ could stop Alice from doing that." He exaggerated a sigh, but I caught him smirking.

"Well, you could. But you just don't want to." I retorted, pouting slightly.

Edward's smirk widened. He was obviously doing nothing to hide it. I turned, stalking out, grabbing my toiletries on the way to the bathroom. Just as I closed the door, I heard Edward and Alice talking.

"What is she doing?"

"Oh, just a few human moments…"

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I came out, my hair wrapped up in a towel, dropping my bag onto my desk before going downstairs. I had taken a longer time than I usually did in the bathroom. Partly because I wanted to indulge myself a little without Charlie eyeing the amount of water I used, but more because I wanted to annoy Edward, which was not an easy feat to accomplish.

I went downstairs, my stomach suddenly growling. I remembered that I had barely eaten lunch, and no dinner. I smirked as I fetched some food from the fridge, bringing it over to the microwave. Edward forgot about 'food for the human'. After three minutes, the electronic beep rang through the kitchen three times, and I reached for the steaming plate.

My stomach growled again as I set it down, and I went to fetch a fork and a few tissues, along with a glass of milk, thinking about the food I ate at Charlie's compared to Renée's. Leftovers were hardly a rare thing to eat while living with Charlie, but when living with Renée meant take-away almost all the time. She could not cook. I amused myself with this thought for a while as I started on my very late dinner.

"Honestly, how could you eat such a thing?"

The voice jerked me out of my thoughts, and I nearly knocked over my glass of milk. I glared reproachfully at Edward, who was smiling crookedly at me, leaning against the doorframe. My glare instantly turned into ogling.

"Well, it's, um… not that bad." I said lamely, looking down.

My hunger had gone as quickly as it came. I picked at the side of my plate as Edward sauntered forwards, sitting opposite me, his golden eyes amused, but slightly darker than what it had been. I wondered what Alice had thought.

"Really?" He raised an eyebrow at me. Something I tried not to stare at too much. "How bad is it then?"

I pulled a face, pushing it away. "Alice said that you would make me eat, not turn off my appetite."

Edward flashed to my side, and I found myself sitting on his lap all of a sudden. His cold arms reached out for the plate, pulling it back in front of me again. I repressed a shiver at his sudden contact, but I couldn't slow my heart. It thumped erratically as he picked up the fork that I had dropped, bringing it to my mouth. I glared at him. He couldn't be serious.

He caught my expression, his own was wickedly amused. He only said two words though.

"Eat up."

My mouth was pressed firmly shut, and I thought I heard him sigh.

"Bella, you need to eat." He said patiently, his voice so gently persuasive I opened my mouth straight away, almost like a reflex.

Edward spooned the loaded fork into my mouth, and pulled it back out again. I chewed, with an almost sheepish expression on my face. It was weird, being treated like a three year old, hand fed by a ninety year old. I wasn't complaining though. A faint smile touched Edward's perfect lips as he continued to feed me, and I felt the awkwardness fade slowly into a slightly more cheerful atmosphere. I watched his russet eyes grow slowly lighter, and quickly I felt too full. I leaned back into his shoulder, and Edward put the fork down.

"Interesting." His voice was amused.

"What's interesting?" It came out as a soft murmur. I laid my head against his cold hard chest, closing my eyes.

Edward didn't answer, but one of his hands raised itself up to touch my hair. Of course, my heart reacted to his touch, and he started to hum. Whether he was conscious of that fact or not, I didn't know. Before I could do any more analyzing of his actions though, Edward spoke.

"Time for bed."

I glanced at the clock. Well, it was late enough to pass as 'bedtime', but I didn't feel the need for a set 'bedtime'. Still, just this once, I let Edward carry me upstairs, the usually protests not surfacing. My face leaned against his shoulder, my breathing blowing onto his chest. If I had been thinking I may have not done that, but it was so comfortable in his arms… almost _warm_…

Edward reached my room, and laid me down. I struggled to sit up again, and Edward sat next to me, a soft smile on his face.

"So," I said.

"So?"

"_So_…"

"So what, exactly?" He teased.

I thought for a minute. "What did you do today?"

Edward pressed his lips together, thinking my questions over seriously, but with a twinkle in his eye. "Why do you want to know?"

I scowled. "Why do you want to know what I'm thinking?"

"Because I want to." He said simply, reaching a finger to stroke my cheek.

Of course, I flushed, and he smiled again. "And I want to know what you did today." I muttered, hyper aware of Edward's cold finger drawing small circles down the side of my face.

"Nothing much."

"I'm not thinking _much_, either."

He scowled, pulling his hand away. I sat, trying to put on an innocent expression. In the silence, you could've heard a pin drop – an expression, but I don't doubt that he could hear a pin drop – so it was no wonder that we both heard Charlie's heavy foot falls thumping around in his bedroom. I quickly ducked under the covers, just incase he thought about checking in on me. I peeked out under my eyelashes, and Edward was gone.

A soft creak of the door, before it clicked shut again. I rolled my eyes. Charlie was so paranoid. But then again, he had reason to be… I glanced at my bedside clock, the numbers glowing bright red. Only ten. I sighed, rolling over, right into Edward.

"Ow!"

I collided into his stone chest, which would've hurt me more than him. I heard his quiet laugh, before he slipped on marble arm around me, and started humming again.

"You making another song?" I whispered. I wondered if my tone sounded sarcastic.

I could heard a smile in his voice as he replied. "Oh, maybe. Why do you ask?"

"Just curious."

"You're always curious."

"True. So why did you need to ask?"

He didn't reply, and I felt sudden weariness wash over me. He felt my muscles relaxing.

"So I can still sing you to sleep, eh?"

This time I didn't reply either, but I turned around, watching my clock, the numbers slowly folding into one another. I felt the time slipping away from me, while he had his immortality. Or near immortality, anyway. I sighed, quiet inaudibly, but of course Edward heard.

"What's wrong?"

His voice was just a whisper, and I felt his cold, light fingertips trailing down my neck. I bit my lip, not wanting to tell him, because it would only make him mad.

"You don't want to know."

"Yes I do." He argued.

Edward's hand stopped moving, and he laid it gently against my neck. When I started feeling dizzy, I realized I was holding my breath. Letting it out very slowly, I thought about wording my next sentence, hopefully in a way that wouldn't get him mad.

"Well, I was watching my clock." I begun slowly and I knew that he knew from that one short sentence.

I heard him sigh.

"I told you that you didn't want to know." I mumbled.

"I do. I just don't want you to want _that_."

"Fat chance of that happening." I grumbled.

Edward stayed silent, his hand sliding off my neck, but I could feel his disapproval. He knew that his efforts to deter me from this were utterly useless, yet he still tried. That would either describe him as full of heart, or just idiotic. Both those options were fairly unreasonable. No one could be alive for over one hundred years and still know nothing. And the first one… could be used as a metaphor.

"So." I hedged.

"So what?" he muttered darkly.

"What would be the most surprising thing that could happen to you?"

I felt Edward's hand on my neck again. I turned around again to face him. His eyes were soft, the gold swirling around in it. I looked down, taking his other hand, pressing it between mine.

"It's already happened to me." He murmured.

I flushed, but smiled. It was nice to know that…

"And you?" He prompted.

I looked up into his face, his eyes intense, staring unfalteringly into my eyes. "It's already happened to me too."

Edward's beautiful face broke into a smile, and my breath caught in my throat, before I had sense to look down. My hands still pressed against either side of his, before he shifted slightly. I looked up at him quizzically. A soft smile touched his lips at my expression.

"Time for bed." He said softly.

I scowled. Edward smiled at my sour expression.

"I'll be right here." He promised.

I thought about it for a moment, and obediently laid my head on the pillow. Edward smiled again, leaning in. My heart stopped. His cold lips brushed lightly across my neck, and I smelt his unbearably sweet scent radiating off his chest. I inhaled, my breath ragged, my head swimming dizzily as he pulled back.

"Now you really should go to sleep." He said. He tried to make his tone serious, but his eyes were playful.

He started to hum again, and I felt as if Jasper were in the room. My eyelids drooped, and I felt a heavy blanket of sleep pull over me, the soft melody of an angel always in my ear.

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"Bella? Bella! Wake up!"

"Mmmmm…" I mumbled, my heavy lids flickering. I saw Edward's face, his soft voice calling me.

"What?" I asked groggily, trying to rub the sleep out of my eyes.

"The phone's ringing."

"What?"

"The phone's ringing." He repeated, but he was smiling.

I blinked, amazed. I couldn't hear a phone ringing. I stared at him, amazed, wondering why he would wake me up for a phone call… that wasn't even ringing.

"What time is it?"

"About two in the morning."

"Since when do you wake me up for a phone call at two in the morning?" I demanded.

"When that phone call will be from your mum."

"WHAT?"

I almost leapt out of the bed, almost twisting my ankle, even though the phone was still silent.

"Bella! Calm down." He pulled me into his lap, brushing my hair from my disheveled face. "The phone won't ring until later."

I glared at him, even though not _quite_ looking him in the eye. "Then why wake me now?"

He smiled, tracing my jaw with one finger. "Because it will ring _soon._" His eyes were twinkling.

A sharp ringing interrupted my retort. He stood up, carrying me, and raced down the stairs. I picked up the phone on the second ring.

"Mum?" My voice was breathless.

Then I bit my lip. I wanted to kick myself! How would I explain how I knew it was her calling? I was hurriedly making up an excuse in my head, when I realized that she hadn't spoken. I heard a shallow breathing on the other end.

"Mu- um, hello? Who is this?" I caught myself before I said 'mum' again.

Nothing. If there wasn't the breathing, then I would've hung up. I cast Edward a quizzical glance, and he gestured with his hand, but there was a tinge of sadness in his eyes.

"Hello?"

I tried to keep my voice steady. I didn't know if I should feel annoyed, or anxious. I tried anger.

"If this is a prank call, you've got a pretty bad sense of humor." I gibbered, my words flowing into each other. "It's two am in the morning and I want my sleep. If you don't say anything inn two seconds then I'm-"

In the middle of my little rant, my mother burst into tears on the other end.

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_**AN:** Chapter Four, served on a golden platter :) this chapter took me longer than the rest, but I think its okay looking. Don't forget to review. It's easy, one click of a button and a few words. Next chapter will be more in-depth, I think. More teary, on where Renée is concerned. But before I give too much away, REVIEW! –watches–_

_xx Athemia_


	5. Trouble

_**AN:** Well, Chapter Five. Not much to say… Renée gets teary in this chapter. Bella starts feeling the strain of lying to her mother… but I'll stop summarizing right now. On to the story…_

_**Disclaimer:** Every itty bit of credit this story gets belongs (mostly) to the virtuoso Miss Meyer_

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**Chapter Five**

**Trouble**

The sobbing continued relentlessly, nothing I could do would stop her. I tried cutting in, I tried coughing loudly, but Renée paid me as much attention as she would if she were deaf. Her crying was relentless; I gave a hopeless look to Edward. Surely he could hear the racket she was making, even over the phone. His face was blank, and his eyes stared a hole into the wall. I waited for a bit more, and Renée seemed to have calmed down enough to stop her bawling, and was now sobbing gently. Or maybe she just ran out of breath. I tried again.

"Mum? Are you okay?"

I saw Edward roll his eyes. Well, it was a pretty pathetic question. At least Renée didn't seem to be in a good enough (or bad enough) mood to snap at me. Her sobs continued quietly, and she still didn't answer.

"Mum? Hello?"

Renée gulped a few times, and I sat down on the chair. A second later, I found a heavy jacket sagging down on my shoulders. I smiled at Edward, before tugging it tighter around me. Renée still hadn't ceased her continuous moaning, and I didn't know whether I should feel irritated or nervous.

"Mum? Are you okay?"

There was silence. She had stopped her bawling, but now I couldn't even hear her breathing. My fingers stopped drumming the table.

"Mum?"

"I'm, fine, Bella. I just needed someone to talk to."

I was surprised. For one, her voice didn't even sound hoarse. She had been crying for at least five minutes straight. Second, she hadn't even done any talking.

"Um, are you sure you're okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Sorry for calling so late. You go back to bed now, try and forget the whole thing, okay?"

I was surprised again. Not only did she seem worried about the time difference, but didn't even take the chance I offered her of talking. It was Renée's voice, but completely alien words coming out of the receiver.

"Um, okay." It sounded like a question.

I hesitated, not knowing if I should just hang up or pump Renée for information. I was surprised, yet again, when the phone clicked in my ear, and the line went dead. I stared at the tiled floor, the phone to my ear. I wondered if this was a dream, or perhaps I was hallucinating. Surely Renée wouldn't act like that…

"Bella?"

A pair of cold, granite arms wrapped themselves around my waist. Edward reached up and took the phone gently out of my frozen hand, placing it back into the receiver.

"Are you okay?"

He asked me the question that came out of my mouth at least a dozen times. Surprisingly (again) I felt myself as unable to answer him as Renée had me. It was just all so strange… I wasn't used to Renée acting so adult.

"Bella?"

I looked up, into Edward' golden eyes, concerned. This time, instead of making my thoughts even more jumbled, my head cleared. I managed a small smile.

"Yes, fine. It's just a little odd."

"What's odd?" he was carrying me upstairs again. If I wasn't so deep in thought I would have minded.

"Renée…" I mumbled vaguely.

He stared at me, but I didn't answer. I only looked up at him again when he exhaled.

"Bella, what are you thinking?" his voice was impatient.

I smiled sheepishly, remembering that he couldn't read my mind. I debated for a while if I should ignore him, and continue to dwell in my little thinking mode, but decided against it. His expression got more irritated the longer the silence stretched on.

"It's just that I'm not used to her acting so… adult-ish."

"Is that a problem?" he asked, placing me on the bed again.

"Well, it shouldn't be."

I hugged my legs, my knees touching my chin, pulling the blanket around me. Edward sat in front of me, cross legged, in a position not unlike my usual one, and waited for the rest. I thought for a bit for a while, trying to come up with a way to say it without sounding like an idiot.

"For the whole decade and a half that I've known Renée, I've always been the adult. The cooking, bills, cleaning… everything was my job."

"Well, that's probably why you can't stand Alice waiting on you hand and foot." He cut in briefly.

I scowled at him, hugging my knees tighter. "Do you want to hear what I'm thinking or not? If you don't, I'd like to get some sleep."

Before he could answer, I had flipped onto my back and pulled the covers up to my chin, closing my eyes. The bed squeaked slightly as he leaned over me. I tried holding my breath.

"Bella, don't be like that." Edward's voice was tinged with temptation and amusement.

"Be like what?" I muttered, trying to speak without inhaling. Not an easy job.

He didn't answer. My head started swimming, so I reluctantly let out my air. The intensity of his smell just made my head dizzier. Edward was still silent, and I couldn't resist the urge to peek at him. I opened my eyes, squinting at him through a thin slit. He was lying next to me, so I couldn't see much of him.

The silence stretched. Edward started humming his new song again. I scowled, having nothing to entertain myself with. I tried going to sleep. It didn't work very well. I felt a sudden urge to touch him again, and with something like that pulling at my brain, it was completely impossible to go to sleep.

I was surprised though, when he broke the silence.

"Are you going to sleep?"

I remained silent, wondering if I could fool him into me being asleep. An act next to impossible, by the way.

"Bella, I know that you're awake."

I didn't answer. Suddenly his face was in front of mine, a playful smile on his lips. My eyes snapped shut a second too late. I heard him laughing quietly, brushing a strand of hair from my face.

"What?" I mumbled, looking at him through narrowed eyes.

"Oh, nothing." He was still smiling.

"Humph. Just because _I'm_ not telling you what I'm thinking, it's not like you should stop telling me what _you're_ thinking."

Edward laughed softly again, but it was still beautiful. His cold fingers continued to brush my face lightly, and I closed my eyes again, relishing the touch of his cold skin on mine. He seemed to think that I wanted to sleep; he started humming the song again.

"I don't want to go to sleep." I slurred.

"Sure you don't."

I struggled to open my eyes. His little song acted like a drug, or Jasper, and I felt tired… so tired… _No!_ My eyes snapped open. I glared at him.

"Bella, just go to sleep."

"You're the one making me get up at two in the morning."

"Now I'm the one making you go back to bed."

I refused to let my eyes close. I even considered getting up, but decided against it. It was too cold. Besides, I was only doing this to tease him. Edward, of course, saw through my pathetic attempt. He leaned back, and walked over to the rocking chair, sitting down in it, staring at me with a blank expression, but his eyes were twinkling.

I twitched my blanket, so he was blocked from my view. Sooner than I'd liked though, I felt the heavy blanket of sleep pull over my head again. My conscious state slipped away before I could feel Edward's cold lips brush my throat.

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The next morning, Edward had forced me into one of the outfits Alice bought me. His eyes glinted merrily as I mentioned the dark alleyway shop we had went to, and he, like Alice, refused to tell me the price.

"Where am I going to wear that dress to anyway?"

I cast another look at the gorgeous dress as Edward pushed me out of the room. I had a horrible image in my mind: another prom, me with my clumsiness, knocking down and over everything I touched, dashing into people, backing away and then falling over someone else… Edward's voice interrupted my silent nightmare.

"How am I supposed to know? You need to ask Alice for that." He replied vaguely.

"Of course you know. You just don't want to tell me, because it'll probably be another dance or something." I griped.

"Bella, come _on_!"

We were at the porch, when Charlie stopped us. He was staying home for some reason today, but I gave it no second thought. His voice called out from the kitchen.

"Bells, can I talk to you for a minute?"

I hesitated, before walking back into the kitchen. Edward waited at the door, a vexed expression on his face. I smiled. He looked so cute when he was frustrated.

"Yes dad?"

Charlie was sitting on a chair, but he was drinking his coffee when I came in, so I didn't think that it was anything serious.

"I need to ask you something."

He waited, and I leaned against the doorframe, trying to resist tapping my foot.

"Why don't you sit down?"

"Dad, Edward's waiting for me."

Charlie's expression changed ever so slightly.

"Okay then. I heard you talking last night, and I saw the kitchen light on."

"Oh."

I tried to make my mind work faster. What would work as a decent excuse? Well, the phone, duh… I stayed silent.

"So?" Charlie's voice was slightly frustrated, and perhaps… angry?

"There was a phone call and I went to get it."

"Bella, phone calls had never woken you before."

"Well, I wasn't sleeping too well."

Charlie eyed me suspiciously, but I had my well-used innocent expression on my face, and I knew that he wouldn't voice his suspicions – that I had a vague idea about – out loud to me now.

"Okay then. Who was it from? Who would call this late?" he probed.

"It was mum."

"Renée?" His face and voice was a mask of shock.

I nodded, somewhat smugly.

"What was she calling for?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. She cried through most of it, then pulled herself together and hung up."

Charlie was skeptical. Why did he have to start analyzing everything _now_? "Renée, pull herself together?"

I sighed, glancing purposefully at the clock. "Yeah, sounds weird. But she did."

Charlie still seemed suspicious of me, but he let it go. "Okay then. Go… behave." He said gruffly.

I half smiled. "Bye dad."

I practically ran out, catching my foot of course. I stumbled, and Edward caught me, and half carried me into his car.

"So, he thought it was you, didn't he?"

Edward grinned, nodding. "We'll have to be quiet next time." He said, winking at me.

I smiled. At least he wasn't taking this too seriously. I watched the familiar green scenery fall away, inhaling the morning air. I wondered were he was taking me today; it didn't seem like we were going to the Cullen Manor. That was what I had started calling his house since I had seen a picture of it in an olden day manor. It was exactly the same, except it was called 'Beaux Ville Manor'. Personally, I felt that 'Cullen Manor' sounded better.

When Edward made no move to tell me were we were going, I voiced my curiosity. I had been to his manor now so many times I practically knew the way there. Not literally, of course.

"Oh, somewhere nice. It's going to be sunny today."

_Everywhere is nice,_ I thought to myself, irked. All I knew from _that_ was that we wouldn't be in public. A few dull grey clouds had already shifted, and the single ray of sunlight made his arm glitter. Edward took my hand with his free one, and I watched his face. His golden eyes were bright, his body relaxed. Maybe it was just me. I couldn't stop fidgeting again. I took his hands in both of mine, just to have something to do.

Pressing it, the cold, smooth stone like texture of his hand was flawless, with none of the creases or bluish veins that mine had. I started feeling inferior to him. All of him – his beauty, strength… _wealth_, I thought as the car sped along silently.

Then, his mobile rang. I stared at Edward, and he looked equally confused. He pulled out his phone.

"It's Carlisle." He muttered.

I watched him listen. His lips vibrated, so fast I couldn't understand. I wondered what he wanted to say to Carlisle that he couldn't say to me. Before I could launch into a series of insecure thoughts though, Edward had hung up and turned the Volvo around in one smooth movement.

"What's going on?" I asked. This sudden change of plans startled me.

"Charlie is a bit worried. Renée called again, she doesn't sound too good."

"That's all?" Renée crying wasn't something only I could handle…

Edward pursed his lips. "I don't think that Renée is just crying."

"Then what is she?"

We were almost at Charlie's house.

"I… Renée's got a bit of a problem, but I don't know, it's not clear."

The car ride was silent as Edward pulled up again to Charlie's house, less than half an hour after we had just left it.

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_**AN:** Done! This chapter took me an extremely long time to write for some reason, especially because it's so short. Also, I've started an Artemis Fowl Fanfic, and that's captured most of my attention. This story will continue to progress, but perhaps just a little bit more slowly. Don't kill me! I'll still write, and I'll try to _


	6. Little Worries

_**AN:** Chapter Six. You will probably hate me for it, but I found that my AF fanfic is getting more and more interesting. The other day I realized that I had already written 10 chapters of my AF story and only seven chapters of this one. I'll try to keep updating this as quickly as possible, but Artemis Fowl is luring me x-P heh. Anyway, let's just get onto the story. There's also a bit of this in Edward's PoV, so… yeah. _

_I sat my scholarship test today! It's for Mac Robertson Girls' College. I don't know if I want to get in though, cause all of my friends are going to another school and but this is a really good school… x.x;; if I get in I'll also have to move house again… uggghhh_

_**Disclaimer:** Nothing belongs to me here except the plot and any extra characters I might introduce_

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**Chapter Six**

**Little Worries**

We walked to the door, Edward hovering at my shoulder. I didn't know if he was seeing if I was going to call or deciding if he should come in with me. Either two wasn't very comforting. He opened the door though, following me in as I led the way to the kitchen, even though he had been there enough times to walk there blindfolded. I turned the corner and saw Charlie sitting at the table, his fingers stroking the side of his coffee cup agitatedly.

"Dad? What's wrong?"

Charlie practically jumped up at my words, a profound look of relief on his face.

"Oh, Bella, thank god–"

He paused suddenly, looking at Edward awkwardly. Edward got the message. He squeezed my hand before walking away. I heard the faint click of the door shutting and even the Volvo's engine purring to life. Charlie's eyes had followed Edward out of the room, but now his gaze slid back to me.

"Bella, your mother… I don't think she's coping very well."

"What do you mean?"

I was thinking about that strange phone call that I had gotten. I hadn't told Charlie, it wasn't anything important. Renée cried all the time, and if I told Charlie he'd just think that I was worried about something.

"I mean I think that she needs some company." Charlie hedged.

I could see that he was avoiding something, and I wasn't about to give up. If I couldn't get Edward to tell me, I would get Charlie to.

"How about Phil? What happened to him? Did they get into a fight or something?"

"Well, sort of. Renée wouldn't tell me though, she just kept saying she had to talk to you."

"Why?"

"I… don't know. Honestly." Charlie mumbled.

My eyes narrowed. I was bad at lying, but I was good at spotting people who were lying to me as well.

"What else did she say?" I pushed.

"Well, she said something about cold but it wasn't very clear. Then she just hung up on me." Charlie said incoherently.

"Is that all?" This was getting more and more confusing. Again, the unexplainable hanging up. If Renée was anything, it was a chatterer. She loved to talk, loved to fuss, and she'd never hang up on anyone.

"Well, I think she's going to come live with us."

"What?"

This was shocking. Out of anything that could've happened, this was the least expected. Renée hated Forks, and now she was going to willingly come to live with us? I voiced my doubts.

"Like I said, she wasn't very clear. She cried through the whole thing, and then suddenly she just stopped. Then she said that she would be coming to live with us soon and hung up. Her voice sounded really calm and…" Charlie trailed off, perhaps realizing that he was babbling.

I was quiet. What he had managed to describe was exactly what Renée had been like with me… then I jerked out of my thoughts and found Charlie squinting at me. He probably thought I was coming down with something. I forced a smile.

"I'm fine. Can I go upstairs now?"

Charlie nodded hesitantly, and I did everything I could to stop myself from jetting up the stairs. As always, Edward was sitting on my bed, gazing out the window. Apparently, he was deep in thought. He turned around as I entered the room, and a brief smile flashed onto his face.

"What?" I whispered, sitting next to him after I made sure that my door was securely closed.

"Oh… nothing," his grin grew wider.

"You never tell me anything." I grumbled.

Edward leaned over, brushing a strand of hair out of my face. "Of course I do."

"Sometimes," I allowed grudgingly.

We were quiet for a while. Edward started to hum softly, and I stared at the floor again. "So what did Charlie _really_ want to say?"

He shifted his head slightly, but didn't say anything. I looked up, and he was staring out the window again. "Well…?"

"He thinks that something's wrong with Renée."

"Of course he thinks something's wrong with Renée. There is something wrong with her." I complained. "She's so… weird."

I found myself shocked at the words that came pouring out of my mouth. I quickly started staring at the floor again. Edward used one finger to tilt my chin up to his face, so that I got the full blast from his golden eyes. They were more honey coloured today… I lost my train of thought.

"How is she weird?"

"Er… what?"

The fact that he was breathing onto my face wasn't helping my thought process. I tried to behave. A soft smile touched his perfect lips at my dazed expression. He pulled away, and repeated the question.

"I don't know…" I mumbled, "More eccentric, I guess. It's just…"

He waited patiently as I ran my fingers through my hair. It was frustrating. I never knew that describing Renée could be so hard… "She doesn't act her age." I said lamely.

"How is that a problem? You said that you'd become used to being the adult of the house…"

"But… acting her age means being responsible, being able to think things through. If she _doesn't_ think things through, that would make her gullible…" I trailed off.

"Being gullible doesn't mean she doesn't act her age."

"That and a whole lot more. She doesn't cook food that's edible enough; she doesn't remember what she did five minutes ago. Sometimes I love her to death; sometimes I just want to scream. Renée brings out the best _and_ worst in me." I rambled.

Edward nodded as if I was making sense. The night was quiet, and I started staring out the window. You couldn't see any trees from it, and it would probably freak me out at night if I could. The moon hung in the air like a though, and billions of stars twinkled across the inky blackness that was the sky. Then I saw a dark cloud drifted across the horizon, muffling stars… and started to creep over the moon. I suppressed a shiver. Edward was at my side at once.

"You should get ready for bed," he said gently, laying his hands on my shoulders. "Go on." He gave me a little push.

"But I'm not _tired_…" I protested.

"Of course you are, it's nearly ten."

I started. The glowing numbers on my clock showed that he was right (as always). Time had gone _really_ fast. I swung my legs over the side of the bed, grabbing my toiletries bag as I breezed past to the bathroom.

The hot water was soothing, a nice change from the growing chilliness from the wind that wafted through my open window. The glass started to fog up, and I let the steaming spray warm me. After a while, I decided that the hot water was about to run out and unwillingly turned it off. After donning my super cool holey pajamas, I started on my teeth. I wondered if Edward missed doing all these things. After rinsing out my mouth, I returned to my room, and found Edward sitting on the window sill.

"You're going to pay if that breaks." I joked.

Edward's head turned lazily, and smiled. "Ah, that won't cause too much of a hole in my pocket, will it?"

"Exactly how rich are you?" I wondered as I climbed into bed.

"Well, one hundred years is a long time to collect money for." He joked, appearing suddenly on my bed.

I snuggled under my covers, and he reached out a hand to push back my still slightly wet hair. I tried breathing as he leant his face a little closer, his breath brushing my cheek.

"What?" my whisper sounded ten times louder than it should've been.

"Nothing," he murmured again, smiling, and leant away, sitting upright.

I stared at him. The moonlight reflected off his smooth, flawless skin, shining like water. His golden eyes seemed to glow, pulsing its magic at me. His light cotton shirt wrapped around his muscled arms, and during the gentle silence I marveled at his perfection for about the billionth time. How could anyone be so perfect, was beyond me…

"What are you thinking?"

I was quiet. A few lines creased his brow. "Bella?"

"Things,"

"Very detailed," he murmured sarcastically.

I decided not to reply, wondering if I could fake sleeping. I let my eyelids droop as I yawned. I peeked out through slit eyes at Edward's amused expression. He didn't say anything, however, letting me continue on my failing ruse. I turned onto my side so that I couldn't see his eyes.

"'Night." I muttered.

"Goodnight," he replied. I heard a smile in his voice, and his lips, light as a feather, brushing across my cheek. Then, sudden unexpected drowsiness crashed over me, and I fell asleep.

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_Edward's PoV_

I watched Bella sleep, her breathing becoming deep and even. My own breath came from pure habit, and every time I inhaled, her sweet scent floated to me. I rushed my hand lightly across her cheek, the skin I touched deepening in colour. I smiled. Even when she was asleep she would blush… I turned, slipped out the window, and ran.

The window cut through my hair, such a sense of exhilaration I felt was never achieved before. The bends and turns came easily, my sixth sense telling me where to go. The night was empty, silent, only the occasional rustle of the trees breaking the dead silence. I ran on, my feet skimming the earth, and I felt like I could fly. As time ticked by, I grew anxious, as I did every time that Bella was away from me. This must be done though. What I had heard from Charlie was slightly disturbing. I entered the opaque vegetation, and heard all the bugs cheeping and squeaking around me. When I was finally free of the dark green stuff, my house finally came into view; all I wanted to do was to run back to Bella's bedside.

I walked in, sensing Alice's position.

"Alice!"

Instantly, a blur of pale skin and black hair came streaking my way. She halted one meter in front of me, her hair waving slightly at the sudden stop.

"Is everything okay?"

I tried to come up with a reasonable answer. "I don't know. There's nothing to worry about, but I think that something's going to go wrong."

Alice closed her eyes, and grew still. She tensed, and I read the image that floated across her mind. _A woman… bending over something… it was dark…_ I sighed. Nothing was obvious enough in the dark.

"Can you keep trying? Tell me if something changes."

Alice nodded, but hesitated. "You would tell us if something's wrong, wouldn't you?"

I nodded brusquely, and went to my room to change. It was necessary… then I turned and exiting the way I came, speeding through the forest once more, fast as a bullet. The ache to return to Bella pushed me yet faster. When her house came into view, I saw Charlie's light was still on. I slipped into the house quietly, and walked to Bella's room. She hadn't moved an inch, her face looking so peaceful I almost felt jealous. Needing the contact, I sat on her bed, one hand brushing the side of the neck. I felt the warm pulsing of the blood vein, but found no desire in me to… I couldn't even think it. Instead I focused on Charlie's thoughts.

_Renée seemed worried… really worried… and really strange… I wonder if something's wrong…_

So Bella wasn't the only one that noticed something wrong. What I had seen of Renée from her little hospital visit, she wasn't much but an over-protective but very loving mother, if, as Bella said, slightly eccentric.

_Her voice just changed all of a sudden, like someone else was doing a very good imitation of her… I hope she's okay…_

This thought alarmed me. A lot. If someone was with Renée… I was diverted by this particular train of thought though, when Bella cried out. I quickly looked towards her, and she was clenching her pillow, her face a mask of pain.

"Bella?" My voice came out whispered.

Her eyes shifted under her eyelids, but they didn't open. I leant closer, trying to dissect her expression. I was very careful not to press any harder than I already was, and I laid my hand on her cheek. She sighed, and her breath hit me full in the face. I froze. After the time ticked by though, I relaxed. No urges came to me. I leant closer, wanting to get rid of the trace of pain that still lingered over her face. Brushing my lips across her cheek, the full warmth of her body radiated through me, and I closed my eyes for a while to savour the feeling. I leant away when's Charlie's footsteps thudded towards us though, and ran to the window sill, just incase. The footsteps thumped to the bathroom, and there was a sound of running water before Charlie returned to his room. A click indicated that he switched his light off, and I felt that it was safe to return to Bella's side. Her face was calm again, peaceful.

"Edward."

I smiled as she breathed my name again. It was almost routine, really… She rolled over to her side, and I withdrew my hand.

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_Bella's PoV_

I woke to the usual foggy morning, grey clouds hanging over the sky like doom. I was expecting it to rain anytime soon now. Groaning, I rolled onto my side.

"Morning," said a cheery voice.

"Why are you so happy?" I grumbled, sitting up and peering around the room blearily.

Edward was sitting on my rocking chair, fresh clothes, and tidy hair… his usual awing perfection. He got up, human speed, and walked to my bed, running his fingers through my afro hair. "Amazing, isn't it, how straight your hair can be when it wants to be." He commented, with a trace of a smile on his face.

"Amazing, how your hair always stays the same length." I shot back dryly.

He flashed a smile at me, and my breath caught in my throat. Then he was gone, and my window open. It took me a while to gather my thoughts, even when Charlie came in, with a fishing hat I never knew he had.

"Hey Bells, heard you talking."

"Hi dad…" I was getting used to saying 'dad' instead of 'Charlie'. "Yeah, I was… talking to myself."

Charlie nodded, before hesitating. "Don't worry," I assured him, knowing what was going on in his head, "I'll be fine today, you go fishing. One favour though."

Charlie looked wary. "What favour?"

"Pick me up a recipe book."

He lost his worried look, and smiled his crinkly-eyed smile (quote from book). Withdrawing his head, I counted to five before Edward was sitting besides me again.

"So, is he?"

"Is he what?" he asked me, playing vaguely with a strand of my hair.

"Going to get the book," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Such a minor thing… Does it matter?" he sat a little closer to me, smiling.

"Just a question." I shrugged. "So, what's on today?"

"How about coming to my house?"

"Yeah, sure, why not? Dazzle me with your superior wealth." I jibed.

Edward made a face at me, before I got up and walked out of the room. "Car?"

"Downstairs." Came his answer, and the door clicked shut behind me.

After rushing through brushing my teeth and doing the overall cleaning, I hurried down the stairs. Edward was waiting for me at the kitchen table, with three plates and a glass of milk. Plate one contained pancakes, dripping with syrup. Plate two had fried eggs and bacon slices, and plate three had buttered toast and a little bowl of cereal. I shook my head.

"You have got to stop doing that," I criticized, even as I sat down. "It's like you expect me to eat all that."

"Not all of it," he said, leaning in and kissing my forehead, "Just at least one plate." He teased. "Surely you can handle that."

I eyed the plates. Finally I chose the toast. Edward tutted at me as it pushed the other two away. "Seriously I don't even know why I made that. It's like those little woodchips that you find in a carpenter's shop."

"Hey, just because you don't need to eat human food it doesn't mean that you can insult it!" I retorted, my voice hurt, "I am eating, you know." I added unnecessarily, as I spooned another spoonful of cereal into my mouth.

"Because food have feelings, don't they." He said sarcastically.

I didn't reply, but contented myself by throwing the coaster at him. He caught it almost lazily, a grin on his face. I returned to the busy task of eating the food with feelings. After a while though, I finished, and he swept the plates off the table and into the sink before I had even put my fork down. The tap was running, and I just leant back.

"You know, you're great at this housework thing." I commented.

"Don't get any ideas." He joked.

"I'll get Charlie to hire you as a cleaner." I cracked.

He frowned at me over his shoulder. "You'd probably finish it about ten times faster." I complimented.

"Thanks," he said dryly.

"No problem."

He finished the dishes, and we went out the door, the silver Volvo waiting on the doorstep. I cast a look towards my red truck. "Poor trucky," I crooned, "He probably feels all _lonely_… and he'll probably rust or something."

I saw Edward roll his eyes at me. "First your breakfast, now your truck has feelings?" he asked scathingly.

"Uh… maybe." I said sheepishly.

Shaking his head, he got into the driver's seat, and I hopped into the passenger's side. After taking one second to start the car, we slid down the drive way, and Charlie's house quickly disappeared from sight.

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_**AN:** I kept abandoning this story… I'm thinking that I'll get onto the main plot quickly, since I can't really think of anything but fluff to fill in chapters in between. My muse is failing me :-P but everyone likes fluff, right? _

_REVIEW! Tell me that it's terrible… x-) _

_xx Athemia_


	7. Newfound Mystery

_**AN:** I felt like I was abandoning the people that were reading this story - so here's another chapter. I'll try to finish this, for all the readers still out there :)_

_**Disclaimer:** Nothing but the plot belongs to me. And extra characters._

**

* * *

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**Chapter Seven**

**Newfound Mystery**

As I stared absent mindedly out the window, my eyes out of focus, I was dimly aware of Edward's soft voice humming a little tune. The sound was soothing, and I closed my eyes. His voice took on a louder level, and my head was suddenly so full of music, I clapped my hands to the side of my head. I saw Edward's eyes flash to my face.

"Bella? Are you okay?"

The music wasn't fading. It wasn't painful, just… surprising. I nodded mutely, and pointed to the road. He got the hint, and turned his eyes back towards the road, but still shot anxious glances at me now and then. I closed my eyes again, and let my hands fall, but the music didn't fade. Edward's lips were not moving. I stared at my reflection in the little side mirror, and saw my pale pace. I looked sick…

"Bella?" Edward asked again.

The music faded. I turned to look at him, my smile falsely wide. "I'm fine." I reassured him. "Just a passing headache…"

My words did less than reassure him. In fact, he looked more worried than ever. I wondered what was going on in his head… I rolled my eyes though, at his next question.

"Are you _absolutely sure_ that you're okay?"

"No."

Edward turned his alarmed eyes upon my face again. I smirked. "Well, you wouldn't believe me if I said 'Yes', now, would you?"

He frowned, his eyes radiating disapproval. "That's not funny."

"Course it is," I chirped, before we lapsed back into silence.

That music… where did it come from…? What was it…? Answerless questions began making my head spin. I was feeling like the first couple of days I had met Edward… not a very nice feeling at all… I pressed my head against the window, but my eyes didn't focus on the fast disappearing landscape. My eyes fluttered closed, and I tried to remember the sound. The more I tried to remember though, the less I could recall, until all I had left of the haunting music was a faint ringing in my ears.

When I finally turned my attention to the landscape though, I found that we were almost at Cullen Manor. I straightened, trying to erase that sickly look I was beginning to adopt.

"You know, you'd soon start looking _transparent._" Edward jibed, as he flashed to my side of the door and held it open for me.

"And you'll be solid enough for both of us." I answered sweetly, refusing to be baited.

We walked up to the house, with me still trying to (futilely) remember what the sound was… it was familiar… but I couldn't recall it. Edward held my hand a little tighter, and he started humming. I relaxed automatically to his voice, his touch.

"What are we doing here?"

"Well, I couldn't think of a place that you wouldn't protest about going to and this was the only place that I could think of."

We entered the spacious living room, and Edward pulled me to sit by him. I could tell by his expression that interrogations weren't over yet. I spoke up before he could.

"Now, instead of questioning me about something you'll only get three syllables as an answer for, listen for a minute!"

He closed his mouth, and nodded. I had a vague suspicion that he was going to ask me the question on his mind despite my reasoning though.

"First, there's nothing wrong with me. I just had a slight headache. Seriously!" I added, seeing his skeptical expression. "Secondly, there's no point asking me the same question for the _third_ time! My answer will not change!"

Edward pressed his lips together. I knew that expression. How obviously was he trying to stop laughing at me…?

"What?" I asked impatiently.

"You look so cute when you get annoyed." He stated matter-of-factly, stroking my cheek with his cold fingertips.

"Is that why you annoy me so much?" I grumbled, looking away from his golden eyes.

A corner of his mouth pulled up into his crooked grin. "Partly," He said, leaning in and kissing my jaw. "But I also do it because I like how you never give in to something."

I thought for a while. Was that supposed to be a compliment? Hmmm… I propped my head up with my head, leaning against the couch, and thinking. That music… I couldn't get it out of my head. Beside the fact that I couldn't remember it at all now, there was just this trace of a melody in my head…

"Edward?" I murmured.

"Yes?" came his melodic voice.

"Can you hum that song?"

"Which one? The new one?"

"Yeah, the new one…"

The soft tune floated from his throat, I just sat there, listening, trying to match something… But nothing came. After a while though, I found that he had stopped humming, but there was still music. Someone was still humming, the tune matching what Edward had been humming perfectly.

It was me.

Edward looked at me rather oddly. "I haven't been singing it _that_ often, have I?" he teased, but I saw that his expression was confused.

"I… don't… know…"

My voice was barely audible. A chill that had nothing to do with Edward's arm ran down my spine. Something wasn't _right_… I jumped to my feet.

"Alice!" I asked him urgently, "Where's Alice?"

Edward's expression was blank as he replied smoothly. "She went shopping with Rosalie. Why?" he added carefully.

"I just… need to ask her something." I mumbled incoherently.

"Ask her what?" Edward questioned, lifting my bowed head up with one finger by the chin. He read the hesitation in my eyes, and let his hand drop. "She should be back later this afternoon."

I nodded but I was slightly worried that he might start overreacting about my little moment of insecurity. The well worn silence started to stretch out again. I shifted slightly on the couch, and kept sneaking glances at the stone carving next to me. However, Edward's calm expression seemed to be etched onto his face; it never wavered. I found my mind drifting back towards the unearthly music that had echoed in my head. More and more I was convinced that I had been hallucinating. I couldn't even remember the tone of the music anymore. A soft sigh escaped my lips, but didn't escape Edward's notice.

"Are you alright?" he asked softly, reaching out on pale hand to stroke my neck. I nodded, not trusting myself to speak, especially because he was touching me.

A small smile touched his lips, and he didn't question me any further. I turned back to examine the highly interesting pattern of the carpet. The silence now changed. It was more a comfortable one, not one when you sit, handcuffed, waiting for a bomb to go off. Edward hadn't removed his hand from the side of my neck. Of course, a slight tinge of pink reddened my face as soon as this information registered, but Edward, for once, _seemed_ oblivious. Fat chance…

The shadows gradually grew longer, and we threw around bits of talk now and then. I watched the sunlight dance across the ceiling, before Edward spoke.

"Alice's home,"

Sure enough, after about thirty seconds later, the front door slammed open, and Alice's thin frame bounced energetically into the room, her euphoria catching. I found myself smiling at her bubbling enthusiasm.

"Hey Bella!" she gushed.

"Hi Alice…" my voice was hopelessly dull compared to hers.

My eyes slid to Rosalie's supermodel figure, the one that was fast receding towards the upper level bedrooms. A little grey covered the sudden explosion of gusto I felt. Alice followed my gaze, before swiftly starting conversation.

"So, what have you guys been doing?" she chattered at us, bouncing to my other side and plopping herself down.

"Waiting for you two to come home," Edward piped up.

"You've been sitting here… for the whole day?" Alice said, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep!" I said brightly, "Nothing better than sitting and doing absolutely nothing!"

Alice cracked a grin, "Okay, as much as I'd like to think that everyone loves me and wants to be in my holy presence, tell me what you really want."

I grinned sheepishly. "Ah, we do love you Alice… But I need to talk to you for a bit."

Alice immediately stood up. "Okay, to my room." She sent Edward a sever glance. "And no eavesdropping or listening!" She added warningly.

Edward shrugged, his eyes slightly amused.

"He won't listen to you." I hedged.

Alice sent him another fierce glare before grabbing me around the wrist and hurtling off. I think my feet left the floor for a moment.

"You… can… slow… down!" I gasped, but Alice had already closed her bedroom door behind me. In less than five seconds.

I sat on her couch, and she folded herself in front of me into a cross-legged position. "So, what is it?"

"Well…" I pondered, wondering when, more importantly, _how_ to start.

Alice sat patiently, her elbows resting on her knees as she stared back at me. "Have you Seen anything lately?"

Alice shook her head. "Nothing has come to me. Why?"

I twisted my fingers, trying not to sound like an idiot. "Well, I've got a weird feeling like something… _unexpected_ is going to happen."

Alice thought for a moment. "What do you mean? Detail?"

"My mum."

She became still, eyes frozen and even her hair seemed stiff in the slight breeze coming from her window. I watched the sunlight dance across her skin, twinkling like diamonds on the smooth surface. I turned back to her face when a flash of something like irritation cross apprehension crossed her face.

"What?"

"I can't See anything. I mean, there are shapes and such, but it's all in the dark. Sorry Bella."

I nodded, not really expecting anything. Getting up, I walked to the door, and wasn't really surprised to find Edward standing there. "What happened to not listening?" I teased.

He shrugged. "Did I promise that I wouldn't listen?"

We walked back down, and Alice followed after a few seconds. I turned to the door.

"Do you mind if I take a walk?"

Edward caught the slight emphasize on the 'I'. He nodded, though looked wary.

"Don't follow me." I ordered. "Promise that you won't follow me."

Edward pursed his lips.

"I'm not a little girl! Just a walk, okay? Ten minutes."

Alice nudged him. Edward glanced at Alice's blank face to my defiant one, and sighed. "Okay, fine."

I smiled, and kissed him on the cheek before turning and went out the door.

---

The sunlight was soft, but nevertheless, warming enough. I walked to the lip of the forest, with the house out of sight. I needed time by myself. I sat down on a soft patch of grass, and lay down, using my arms as a pillow as I stared at the sky. Everything always seemed to happen to me… My mind wondered off into pointless little memories, when suddenly, I heard music. This time, it wasn't in my head. When I cupped my hands around my ears, the sound faded away. I stood up, trying to pinpoint the source of the unbearably beautiful music. It was so sad… so full of heartbreak. I felt like crying as I stood there, listening.

After what seemed like an age, the music grew yet louder. Still, it flowed around me, and, almost like in a trance, I walked forwards, slowly. All wind had died away, nothing stirred. It was as if time had frozen, and someone had put a hand over Mother Nature's mouth. No bird called, no insect squeaked. It was only that alluring music, echoing again and again in my ears, bursting with grief and mourning. I stopped walking soon though. The music was pulling me towards the forest, and I had promised to Edward to never go in there. Edward! I whipped around in shock. It had surely been more than ten minutes! I started a brisk walk (I wasn't suicidal enough to run) back to the house. After throwing one look behind me though, I swear I saw a white clad figure staring back at me. But I blinked, and it was gone.

---

When I got back to the Cullen's house, I was half expecting Alice to be wrestling with Edward. Well, I was half right. I opened the door to a lot of verbal fighting, and saw Jasper and Emmett watching from a distance, a bit of a smile on their faces. I shuddered to think of the damage they could've done with actual _physical_ fighting… Alice had just finished calling Edward 'obsessive' when the door clicked shut. They both turned at the small sound. I tried to lighten the mood.

"Don't stop because I'm here. Keep going, it was getting interesting."

Emmett chuckled, but Edward just glowered. Alice turned and raced up the stairs with Jasper. Emmett, after a brief minute's hesitation, went to him and Rosalie's room. I crossed my arms, giving him and awkward smile.

"Is Jasper getting a bit rusty? Not able to use his gift to well?"

"I heard that!" said an echoing voice from the second floor.

Edward's grim face broke. He smiled, and pulled me closer, making my heart flutter.

"So what took you so long? Since when has ten minutes turned into half an hour?"

"Um… Since today?" I suggested, trying to think clearly besides the fact that he was tracing my collarbone.

As he laughed, Edward's cool breath brushed along my neck. A shiver ran down my spine. Before we could do anything though, the phone rang.

"Let's just let it ring." Edward suggested.

I smiled, sure that he was joking. By the time he had let his arms fall to his side however, Alice had already danced to the phone, and was now chatting to it while twirling the phone cord around one slim finger.

"Mmmph… Okay… Yes… She'll be right there!"

She hung up. _Well that was quick_… I thought.

"That was Charlie." She announced. "He's getting worried that, ah, Bella's going to miss her bedtime." She sniggered, before dancing back up the stairs, and banging the door shut before I could even blink.

I scowled. Edward tugged at my sleeve, pulling me out the door.

"We can't keep your father waiting, now, can we?" He said, pushing me towards his car.

"Yeah, we better keep daddy dearest happy." I said wryly.

Edward laughed, and started the car. I hopped in, did my seatbelt as we hurtled through the green foliage towards home.

---

The pale yellow glow was dim, but seeable enough. Charlie and I sat opposite each other as we silently ate dinner. I picked at my food, but quickly tossed in a forkful whenever I thought Charlie was watching me. My appetite wasn't back yet; my mind had other things to concentrate on besides food. Like that figure in the forest today… and the music. Feeling Charlie's probing eyes on me again, I quickly scooped up the last bit of food into my mouth before excusing myself. I escaped to my room, shutting the door behind me.

Edward had gone hunting, so I had about two to three days by myself. He had gone through all the places I was not allowed to go (e.g. any place outside Forks, and no more than ten meters from Charlie's house from all directions. I mean, how _ridiculous_ is that?), before leaving, darting out my window as nimbly as a cat. The sky slowly darkened outside my window, and I leaned against the sill, propping my elbows on the wooden ledge. The blood had a red tinge to it, and the orange streaks became longer and longer. It was only when a glimmer of gold was left on the horizon, when I heard it.

"… wèi shén me nĭ lĭ kāi le wŏ…"

It was that unbearably heartbreaking song again, but this time it had _words_… I leaned out the window, straining to hear. It seemed to be in a foreign language, but not Spanish. _Damn_, I thought. The soft melody grew louder, but the texture was always soft, always smooth. My stomach was pressed against the window as I leaned out further, and the song slowly edged up another decibel.

"… wŏ ài le nĭ dàn shì nĭ shuāi huài le wŏ de xīn…"

I stopped breathing when I saw the white clad figure appear again, this time in startling detail. The figure was slim, the light cotton dress fluttering about her in the breeze. A mane of long, silky black hair fanned out behind her, as she trod barefoot down the street. Her pale red lips trembled as another burst of music flew forth, and it wasn't until I blinked when I realized that I was crying. Salty tears were making their way steadily down my face, before I hurriedly wiped them away. My slight movement caught the attention of the girl though, and her head snapped up briefly. My eyes caught hers for a second; a second that soon seemed like an hour… Her _eyes_…

The figure had been much closer than I had thought, but it was her eyes that startled me the most. The colour of fire, red, yellow orange and gold, swirling in those orbs like a flickering fire. This only added to her beauty though, something that I also hadn't realized. Her finely carved features reminded me strongly of Rosalie for some reason – something utterly illogical. The only thing that she had in common with the blonde vampire was that they were both inhumanely beautiful. Her features were delicately sculptured; her nose finely shaped, fair, unblemished skin and two elegant eyebrows, with a faint pink glow to her cheeks.

Then she was gone.

I blinked, but it was as if she had Edward's supernatural speed. Or maybe she had dissolved into thin air. No sign of her was seen, even as I turned my head around wildly. I leaned over further, not thinking about the extreme length that I already was hanging out the window. I didn't even have time to scream when my feet left the ground and I toppled head first out the window.

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_**AN:** I hope you liked that... Next chapter is already written. It all depends on when I can be bothered loading it up again..._

_xx Athemia_


	8. A Little Pain

_**AN: **Hello all... I have nothing to say o.o odd. But now you can read the story :)  
_  
_**Disclaimer:** All belong to me. Just kidding. Only plot and extra characters._**_

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_**

**Chapter Eight**

**A Little Pain**

I didn't even have time to breathe as the hard roof came rushing up painfully to come into contact with me.

_Thud_. I fell out of the window, hitting my elbow on the window sill.

_Thud_. I rolled onto the roof, my head banging painfully against the wood as I continued my way.

_Thud_. I hit something soft and wet, and my head felt like it was about to split open. I could smell blood in the air, and my eyes closed as my head started pounding and I flopped onto my stomach.

…

When I was sure that I had stopped moving, I opened my eyes. My body ached all over, and the first thing I saw was the sky. My head spun, my eyes watered, and I groaned as I sat up. I think I was on the ground… I tried moving my leg, but excruciating pain shot up at me from all directions. I bit my lip to refrain from screaming, so hard that I could taste the coppery blood on my teeth. My hands clenched the grass as I squeezed my eyes shut, and I went rigid.

Suddenly, I was floating.

My eyes snapped open. Someone was carrying me. The corners of my vision were going dark, and my eyesight was blurring. Just before I lost consciousness though, I thought I saw a twin dots of flickering flame blazing…

---

The first thing that I registered was that I was in pain. Fire burned my skin, I wanted to scream. But my voice wouldn't work. I tried moving, but I felt that I was incased in plaster. Opened my eyes, but a striking white light blinded me, and I quickly shut them again. I found that I could groan though, the closest sound I could make that was anywhere near complaining.

"Mmmph…" I slurred.

"Oh, Bella, thank god…" came a faraway voice.

I didn't want to open my eyes again.

"Ed… Ward?" I mumbled, even the voice was so obviously feminine.

"It's mum, honey, Renée. What have you done to yourself?" she crooned. "Can't I leave you alone for a year without you hurting yourself?"

I felt hands – warm, too warm – stroking my forehead.

"Mum?" I mumbled through the hazy fog that was my mind.

"Yes, honey. How are you feeling?"

I felt confused. This couldn't possibly be Renée, could it? What happened to the fussing? What happened to the hysterical screaming? What happened to the 'Oh Bella I'm never letting you out of my sight again'?

"Where're… the Cull'ns?" I asked incoherently.

"Who, dear?"

"The Cullens." I said as clearly as I could. It sounded like 'cowlings'.

"The Cullens? Oh, they're away. They left for a camping trip of some sorts, but they're coming back today." Renée sounded too calm… and there weren't any interrogations about Edward either. Despite my pain, I had enough emotion left to feel suspicious.

"Mu…mmm? Aren't you… worried?" I asked foggily.

"Of course I am dear! You keep getting hurt, and if you keep going on like this, you'll do something that'll seriously hurt yourself!"

"Doesn't this count as hurting myself?" I mumbled.

She laughed. That was surprising too. Since when did Renée even smile when she saw me in anything even mildly life-risking? Now she was laughing… Something was definitely wrong.

"Um… who found me?" I tried thinking back. I thought of the sun for some reason.

"Oh, no one knows. Someone just called the hospital, and they found you on the front step, bleeding and unconscious…" Renée shrugged. "But the important thing is that you're fine!" she said happily.

Happily?

"Mum?" I asked timidly. "Are you okay?"

Renée nodded dreamily, playing with a strand of my hair and brushing it off my face. She looked drugged… I was getting nervous. This wasn't the Renée I knew. The Renée I knew was over –protective, obsessive, and refused to grow up. This Renée… was mature, and even tried to make a grim situation better. My Renée, my mother, would fuss until I fell asleep. Now she was trying to brush off the matter… She didn't look any different. Short hair, make-up, jeans and she were also wearing a short sleeve top, even in Forks weather. I couldn't see her feet, but I didn't think she was going to be wearing sandals. Everything on the outside was normal, but how about the things on the inside…?

Before I could go into a full obsessive-analytic mode though, the door swung open again. I almost fainted with relief to see who it was.

"Edward!" My relieved cry came out like a whimper.

"Bella? Are you alright?" He sounded panicky. He looked panicky too. His bronze hair wasn't neat anymore (then again, it never was), but it was glistening, as if he had just washed it. His clothes were all wrinkled, and his golden eyes were slightly past wide. Briefly I wondered were Jasper was. Perhaps Edward didn't want to be consoled though… for whatever reason that may be.

"I'm-"

Before I could say 'fine' though, Renée had jumped to her feet, cutting me off from saying those two words that had become increasingly common in my life.

"How dare you come bursting in like that boy? Isabella here is seriously hurt, and you, as of no relation to her have any right to come unannounced or invited!" Her voice rung with authority in every syllable, and it was as close to a shout as you could get without actually shouting.

Both Edward and I just gaped. Well, I gaped. Edward just stared politely, even though he was frozen to the spot. My analytic self came back in full force in the tense silence. First, she had called Edward 'boy'. Renée had never been so formal in her life. Second, she had called me 'Isabella'. That hadn't happened in who knows how long. This just wasn't… normal.

"Mum? Are you sure that you're okay?" I finally managed.

"Yes, darling, why wouldn't I be?" she said absentmindedly, turning back to me and fiddling with a stray strand of my hair, while still shooting daggers at Edward who still hadn't moved a step.

"Mum, it's okay-" I began, speaking through the thickening tension.

Edward however, always the gentleman, cut me off. "It's alright Bella, you need to spend time with family. I need to go speak with my father anyway." He said smoothly, backing out of the room.

The annoyance that had held off in Edward's presence as confusion now surfaced.

"Mum! What was that about? I thought you liked Edward?" I tried to make my voice deprived of anger, but I wasn't succeeding very well. There was also shock and annoyance in there too.

"He may seem like a nice boy, Bella, but there are little slivers of things only mothers can see." She said through stiff lips, dropping her hands and laying them on her lap.

Seem like…? Slivers of things…? Only a mother could see…? I stared at amazement at my new mother figure: my mother. I wondered if she went to Finishing School for adults when I was away. At the best times, Renée just voiced an anxious opinion, before rushing out to avoid any further commenting on the situation. She was pitching such screaming fastballs at me I was still dazed by the first one when the second one hit. The absence of Edward (even though he was so obviously pressed against the door) didn't help my surfacing panic; neither was the constant and increasing beeping of the monitor.

"Honey? Are you alright?" the posh, all-knowing act was dropped, and the Renée I knew was back. She fluttered around my bedside, smoothing out the bed, and patting parts of me that wasn't bruised. The warmth of her hand didn't do anything to calm me down though.

"Mum, it's okay. I just need some alone time…?" I said suggestively.

"Oh. Okay then. I'll just be outside the door, so call if you need anything!" she said, rather cheerfully.

I sighed as soon as she was out the door. Closing my eyes, I willed myself to wake up. Not only was I encased with plaster, again, but Edward wasn't allowed to see me, and my mum wasn't… my mum. This thought didn't sit well with me one bit. I tried to think of other things. Like my rescuer… As always, my memory was foggy. All I remembered was those fiery eyes, burning not with hatred or anger, but with sadness, so heavy with grief that a person would surely be crushed. This thought trailed around in my mind until I actually started to acknowledge it. The fact that I could describe such a thing was a surprise, but how I remembered such a minute detail was even more startling.

I kept my eyes closed as I heard a nurse come in, so the person left without too much fuss. I tried to relax, but the brace around my shoulders weren't helping much. Turning my head sideways, I tried to remember more comforting things. Edward's cool touch, stroking my face, or even Alice's voice… but then, something pushed itself into awareness. The girl that I was so blatantly watching. She had to be considered in all of this too. As if it wasn't complicated enough… I grit my teeth when the door opened, but to my surprise, a pair of cold hands held my face gently. My eyes snapped open, fast.

"Edward!"

"Shhh, your mother's nearby." He said softly.

I sent him a confused look.

"She doesn't know I'm in here." He explained.

I kept frowning. This was so weird. "When can I get out of here?"

"In a week… or two." He smirked at my disgruntled expression. "You don't seem to have learnt from your mistakes Bella, even though you didn't fall out of a window last time. That was just a story you know. No need to reincarnate it."

"I know that!" I snapped, "You think that I enjoy pain?"

Edward seemed to actually need to think about it. If I could raise my arm high enough I would've shoved him. Not that it would do any good, anyway. His expression became more serious though.

"What happened? Alice Saw you practically jumping out of the window yourself. You weren't pushed or anything. I thought that you would've learnt by now that you need practice in the balance department." He said.

"Finished with the lecture, doctor?" I teased.

"Not quite." said a new, but familiar voice. I turned my head, and saw Carlisle walking towards me, dashing as ever. I returned the smile he gave me as he approached my bed, reading the clipboard attached to my bed and quickly reading all the injuries I had sustained from the past few days. "Bella, Bella, Bella… What have we now?" He bent his head and Edward moved off, his hands replaced by Carlisle's as he started probing and scanning my body with an expert eye. He walked back to the clipboard after a short while, and I could still feel the little bits of pressure he had been pushing onto my arm, something now that was growing into pain.

"So Bella, you've another leg, arm and head problem, but I'm happy to say that they're not too serious. There's nothing broken, just seriously sprained, and a couple of good bruises that will fade in a day or two." He lifted his head and sent me a smile. "What have you been doing in the last three days?"

I grimaced. How could you possibly explain something like non existent music and an equally non existent girl that could have possibly saved my life without sounding like a total idiot? Edward merely chuckled, which earned him another scowl from me. "I… er… um…" After a while, I gave up. "Do I really need to explain?" I said meekly.

Carlisle's and Edward's laugh reached even the ears of the vainglorious receptionist currently painting her nails a violent shade of pink.

---

It had been about five weeks since my little 'accident', and Edward had never left my side. Not that I minded in the least. Renée had left to go back to Phil somewhat reluctantly when I had 'all healed up', and for some reason I felt some unknown pressure lift off me when I saw her plane lift up and steadily zoom away. From then on, I was never better. Except for the few tidal waves of calls I had gotten after my little accident. I never knew so many people had my number. I didn't even know how they got my number, though someone with curly brown hair was on the top of my suspicions list.

As I lay in bed, awake, I waited for Edward to return. I was trying my very best not to get impatient, but I wanted the comforting feeling of his cold arms around me again… something that I had missed sorely during every hunting trip, which only (!) lasted three days, and he only (again!) went on one once a month. I turned over, trying to get comfortable, something that had become harder because I was used to sharing my little bed with another person, and not really used to such a big space anymore. I didn't really

He told me that they had rushed back when Alice saw her vision, but were too late. He hadn't finished his hunting, something that I noticed when his golden eyes edged darker after a few weeks, and he had been avoiding contact with me, subtly enough for me to miss it for about… one hour. After a lot of prompting (i.e. Alice taking him aside for about an hour doing something noisily; I heard a distinct banging), he had gone to finish off his hunting day with Emmett.

As I lay in bed, awake, I watched the moon shine through my open window, bathing my room in its soft white glow. I watched the glowing orb in the sky, as it hung in the air like a thought, almost as if it was pulsing and giving off its own energy. I closed my eyes and a strange, unfamiliar poem fluttered randomly into my mind…

The marvelous landscape of my dream

Which no eye knows, nor ever will

At moments, wide awake, I seem

To grasp it and it excites me still.

A thought that glows paranormal

The wilderness of the unknown

Pulling unknowing souls deeper

Into the darkness all alone…

The moon sings its solo song

And beckoned with sightless hands

Luring innocent youths to

Dark and dangerous lands

The world hums its mystic words

Spinning a web of temptation

Sparking the interest of the covetous

Offering riches and enticement

When discovery becomes lethal

Regrets start plaguing in

But too late for those ones

Committing the deadly sin

Too late to annul

The changes become acknowledged

To sight and soul and every core

And from humanity you'll be abolished

It was long, with six verses, yet in my heart I knew it so well I was sure I could say it backwards flawlessly. Instead, I tried to think when I would've read something like that, so mysterious and… dangerous. My thought pattern became disturbed though, when things shuffled outside. The expected edge of panic wasn't there though; all I felt was a serene calm.

The poem was so morbid at the end, all that abolishing from humanity… I shivered slightly, and it had nothing to do with the open window. Abolished from humanity… it sounded like something Edward would say to describe himself. I hugged my blanket around me tighter to avoid those thoughts. The only way to be with him, forever, was to become the same as him. No random poem was going to change my mind about that; especially one that just pops into my head at night with a full moon. Nevertheless, I felt myself growing paranoid as I heard – or maybe imagined – a wolf cry outside.

I shifted again, so I had a better view of the moon, scolding myself for such childish behaviour. There weren't dumb enough wolves to come anywhere near here… where there? I shifted again, anxious for Edward to return, so all my worry would be completely unnecessary. He had said that he would be here before midnight, and it was 11:30pm. He had never been late, but he had been early before… I tried not to let my eyelids droop too much… I tried to not let my mind drift into unconsciousness. I saw the soft wind lift the curtains like a pair of fingers had brushed them open as my eyes fluttered, almost closing in my half conscious state. I blinked.

And blinked again harder

Then just started staring

I was either hallucinating really badly, or there was a pair of ghost white hands lifting my curtains apart.

_

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**AN:** Well, okay. Do you like it? There's only one way to tell me... haha. Poem is mine! Your hands will fall off if you snatch ... _

_xx Athemia_


	9. Discovery

_**AN:**__ So evil I had to do a cliffy –evil laugh– BUT to make up for it I've made this chapter long. I mean, long-er. About 4-5k words I should think, and with a short(er) AN . Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and even though New Moon has now come out, all facts and… stuff, will be based on Twilight. So when you read this, forget for a while, those of you who have, the things that you have learned in New Moon, kay :P_

_**Disclaimer:**__ I own nothing except for the Extra characters_

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**Chapter Nine**

**Discovery**

I stopped breathing. My mind shut down. The thin white arms stretched out like bones, and I had a sudden mental image of the Grim Reaper. Not really stupid, seeing that there was a pair of bone white arms coming from my window that I was sure wasn't Alice's, and was way to thin to be Edward's. Besides, Edward wouldn't be so slow. My throat was dry, and it wasn't before my head started spinning that I realized that I still wasn't breathing. I let it out, slowly, as inaudibly as I could. Unfortunately, it sounded like I was rasping. The arms didn't stop coming in though. I wondered if someone was trying to pull a very bad joke on me before the rest of the body followed.

The slim white fingers grasped the edge of my window, and then I saw a leg swing over the ledge and touched my floor as the other one followed suit. The thought about screaming crossed my mind briefly, before the person slid through and nimbly folded into a crouch position with feline grace. I tried not to look. The key word here is tried. No need to say, I found my eyes drawn almost magnetically to the straightening figure.

It was the same girl that I saw walking down the street. Her skin was like one of those porcelain dolls you often see in those Asian shops, almost as white as the Cullens. Her hair had those curls that only a salon could model hair into, rich and black, tumbling down in lush locks down past her waist. Then of course, her eyes stood out from all the rest of her perfect figure. Those burning fire orbs stared at my curled up figure. I didn't feel scared though. My momentary urge to scream was forgotten. I sat up slowly, but the girl didn't even move an inch. Her hair wasn't even blowing about in the breeze. We stared at each other for about ten minutes, or perhaps it was ten hours. Time flew by without either of us moving, before I suddenly felt cold. I wrapped my blankets around me, and the girl's eyes followed my every movement with such precision, it gave me the strong impression of an assassin. Not a very comforting thought, to say in the least.

"Who are you?" My voice was quieter than a whisper, yet I was sure that she had heard me. Her head tilted briefly, as if catching some far away noise. Her beautiful face radiated grief, but her stance was one of utmost attention, half way crouching. For some reason my mind shot back to the encounter I had with James, the first time I saw the three in the oval that Edward and his family had played baseball. The girl standing in front of me looked exactly like the position James had been in. I doubted if she was going to answer me when she opened her blood red lips.

"Who I am doesn't matter. Who you are needs not be voiced. Your future is something that matters."

It was quite a short speech, but I struggled to understand it, even though there weren't any hard words or hidden meanings to it. The girl's voice was like one of a singer, her words all flowed but there was no melody. She never relaxed her position, one hand still gripping the side of my window. She was barefoot, I could now see, and still wearing that light white dress that blew around her slim knees as she sank into an even lower crouch. Her immaculately clean dress seemed almost grey in contrast to her pure white skin.

"I should know who you are though, if you know who I am." I protested.

"Who said that I ever knew who you were?" The girl's voice lashed out, cracking like a whip. All gentleness faded away from her figure, but her voice stayed the same, nothing showed that she was in the least bit angry, even though I know felt a chill emanating from her lithe figure.

"It's just a question." I mumbled, and reflexively glanced at the clock. 11:50pm.

"I will be gone soon, and your male friend will be back. You can say what you like to him about me, but make no mistake; I will not be manipulated into meeting anyone. I am here for your sake, and if you wish to listen I shall talk, but not if you let your little friends try to pin me down." Her words came sharp and quick, ending in a hiss. Her eyes narrowed, and her sadness faded away to anger. I stared back into her flickering eyes, shuddering at the venom that radiated from them. The fire leapt in her eyes as something scraped outside, but I was feeling slightly hopeful. Her head tilted a little bit more, and I was reminded forcibly of a snake.

"I will be back. When that will be will depend on him."

"What-?"

My unfinished question was unanswered. The curtains fluttered, the window was still open, but there was no longer any white figure standing in front of me anymore. I clutched my blanket, feeling my heart creeping its way into my throat, and I had a strong urge to throw up. The next second though, a large shadow had sprung onto my window, and Edward had slid with a light _flump_ onto my floor. His face broke into a smile as he saw my eyes.

"It's nice to have someone wait up for you." he whispered, and walked over to my bed. My rigid position didn't escape his notice for long. "Are you alright?" he used his cold hand to cover mine.

I relaxed at his touch, and gave him a smile. I would tell him about the girl later. "Nothing's wrong. I was just waiting for you, even though you take forever." I added, scowling playfully at him.

He smiled gently. "It is 11:55, I'm not late." He said innocently.

"Course you're not. You wouldn't be sitting here if you were." I said fiercely, but he merely chuckled under his breath, and pulled me back so I would lie down.

I submitted meekly, and pulled the blankets up to my chin. He lay next to me, propping his head up with one hand and staring intently down at me. I hoped that my face wouldn't give too much away. After a while, after his stare became more intense, I was locked once again in their almost hypnotic gaze. I felt myself sinking in their golden depths… then he blinked. I expelled the breath I was holding, and looked down.

"Bella what happened?" he asked softly.

"You cheat." I mumbled.

He laughed quietly, before tilting my head up with his other hand. "Something happened."

"Yeah, you cheated."

He rolled his eyes. "You know I don't mean that. What happened before I came?"

My quietness seemed to hint something. He didn't press the subject though, something that I was grateful for.

"Never mind, tell me when you're comfortable. Go to sleep now, okay?" He leaned in and kissed my forehead, and I closed my eyes, thinking all the while how lucky I was to have someone so understanding…

---

I placed a bare foot onto the forest floor, and pushed my weight down gently, before walking forwards cautiously. I had no idea where I was going, but in my mind I was certain that I was going the right way, what ever that was. The forest wasn't silent, as it always was in movies when something bad was about to happen, and there certainly weren't any suspenseful or dramatic music either. Birds twittered and bugs hummed and squeaked; I didn't feel alone at all. I felt like something was lighting the way ahead for me only a few steps at a time, but with no determined destination as yet.

I came to a stop at a tree trunk. Nothing in my mind told me that this tree trunk was special, but I didn't feel like moving forwards anymore. I sat down on a fallen log, and played with a plant that was sprouting at my feet. Silence set in slowly, so slowly I hardly noticed it at first. I just looked up, and suddenly there weren't any bird calls. Bugs hardly made any noise, and I suddenly felt a little cold. I shivered, and was debating whether I should try to find my way back somewhere or just stay put. Before a decision came to me though, I heard another rustle that certainly was not made by me. I didn't stand up though, seeing that even a twelve year old had more balance than me. The person that stepped out of the mass of trees though, wasn't a twelve year old.

"Hello."

"Hi." I said to the girl. She was still wearing the white dress that was still clean. Her bare feet trod the earth, yet left no footprint nor got dirty. I would've gotten suspicious if her eyes weren't so captivating. The blazed and burned, not like Edward's when they smoldered at me, but like a real fire was flickering in them, one of those huge bonfire fires, snaking and twisting and leaping into the sky.

"You would do well to keep your emotions under more control." She commented lightly, stepping lightly over a fallen tree branch concealed with moss and leaves, something that I would've surely tripped over.

"Well I can't exactly control myself when I'm with Edward." I said huffily. It was strange that I was talking normally to a girl that might've possibly saved my life and crawled in through my window at midnight. Actually, _crawled_ wasn't elegant enough to describe her movements. Glided, perhaps, maybe flew, even.

"A girl that gives herself up with one look is the poorest of all." She said quietly, her gaze focusing on something behind me.

I found myself growing angry at her remark, but couldn't express it properly. I submitted to glaring. She paid no attention to me, and leaned gracefully against a tree, her black hair framing her pale face and glistening in the soft glow of sunlight that filtered through the trees. I wanted to demand if she was implying if I was 'poor', but for some unknown reason I couldn't bring myself to yell at her. I folded my arms, sniffling. If she was waiting for someone to speak, it definitely would not be me. She surprised me though, by not being stubborn and instead started speaking.

"A message for Isabella Swan, from my master." She said softly, her fingers trailing softly over a wide leaf, her fiery eyes darting to my face now and then. "You have heard her poem, now you must hear her words."

"Wait a minute," I blurted, "That was _her_-?" Before I could finish the sentence, I felt my voice disappear… literally. I opened and closed my mouth like a fish, yet no sound came out.

"It is manners, Isabella Swan, to wait for people to finish speaking before you start." She said in a brittle voice. The girl had one pale hand lifted into the air, her four fingers straight and her thumb touching her fore and middle finger, like the shape that people make with their hands to imitate a bird's beak. I gaped, trying to speak.

"You are still trying to interrupt me." She said with her melodic voice, with no hint of anger, yet the fire in her eyes burned with new fervour.

I slowly closed my mouth, and waited. I didn't see that I had any other choice. The girl didn't lower her hand, but kept speaking as if holding her hand in a beak shape was completely normal.

"A message for Isabella Swan, from my master," She repeated, "I would like to go on about you not knowing how very _special_ you are to have a warning straight from my master, but they would not like me to be dawdling. Keep your friends close, and your enemies even closer. That's some advice my master would like you to have." She watched me, her eyes burning into mine, hard and intense. "The message is this: Remember Every New Envious Enchantress."

I stared at her blankly. Her lowered her hand, and turned.

"Wait!"

Miraculously (…) my voice had returned, and I stumbled after her. The girl didn't stop. Her fluid pace was much too fast for me, and I knew I would never catch up to her.

"What does it mean? Who's the Enchantress?" I called desperately.

The girl paid me as much attention as she did the trees. I ran, immediately tripping over a root that I was _sure_ wasn't there a moment before. The girl glided onwards, skipping over logs, spinning around trees, and in seconds I lost her from sight.

"No!" I yelled. "Wait! Wait…"

"Bella, Bella, are you okay?"

"Wait!"

"Bella, wake up!"

"No! Come back… Ouch!"

I opened my eyes. Edward was leaning over me, and I rubbed my head. My eyes watered as I sat up groggily, and I blinked at him.

"What happened?"

"You were dreaming. I was having such a nice time listening to you about how annoying you found Jessica to be when you suddenly started yelling 'wait' at the top of your lungs. Of course I couldn't let Charlie hear you like that, he'd probably overreact." When he was sure that I was in control, Edward let go of my arms. "What were you dreaming? I doubt that you'd want Jessica to wait for you when she was going to the prom." He jibed.

I stared at him blankly for a moment. Was it all a dream then? It was all so vivid… I can't believe it was all a dream. I could still feel the dirt hitting me in the face as I tripped over that tree root.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

"I tripped." I blurted out.

Edward chuckled, and ruffled my hair. "I'm not surprised."

I scowled. "You're supposed to be acting worried, not teasing me about it." I said, miffed.

His face transformed with such startling speed I was almost scared. With wide, concerned eyes, he leant forward, blowing his cool, mouth watering scent right into my face. "I'm so sorry," he said, with such sincerity I would've replied 'It's alright' to anything. He continued though. "Are you sure you're okay Bella? You know how I hate it when you get hurt…"

I felt the tip of his fingers, light as a feather and cool as water, stroke the side of my neck softly, gently… he moved them under my chin, stroking the length of my neck, from the tip of my chin to the base of my throat, repeatedly, leaning forwards slightly as my breathing became quicker. I tried not to look at his swirling butterscotch eyes, almost flaxen, but failed. He leant closer, and touched his lips softly to mine for one moment, before I felt him smile.

"Feeling better?"

I leaned away, making a face at him. "Honestly, you just completely ruined that for me." I scowled.

Edward smirked cheekily, and pulled me towards him. I thought about struggling but gave up the idea, and he pulled me into his lap.

"On the other hand," I muttered, "I am feeling better."

He laughed. I glanced at the clock, and was startled to see that it was already nine o'clock. Edward followed my gaze.

"Charlie's in the kitchen. He checked on you a little while ago, and he's planning to come up in about ten minutes." He recited.

"Thanks for that." I commented.

"Was that a genuine 'thanks' or just you being sarcastic again?"

I thought about it for a bit, trawling over his palm with my fingers. "Well," I said slowly, with the air of a person explaining something very complicated to a simple-minded person, "It really depends on which way you look at the sentence."

I could almost hear him roll his eyes. "Okay, never mind that question then."

I grinned, and Edward started running his fingers through my hair. I thrilled every time he touched me, and knew that such little contact shouldn't be affecting me so much. Suddenly, something echoed into my head. _A girl that gives herself up with one look is the poorest of all_. I scowled, but wiped it off my face quickly enough that Edward didn't see. Miraculously. He slid me back under the covers and pulling the blankets straight in one fluid movement.

"Charlie calls." He said, smiling.

I lay down, but didn't bother trying to fake sleep. A couple of seconds later, the door cracked open and Charlie popped his head around the door.

"Bella, you awake?"

"Yeah dad,"

"Okay. Just wanted to tell you that I'm going now, and I'll be back late, so just leave something in the fridge for me, okay?" he winked at me.

"Sure dad." I smiled.

He retreated, and before he had started thumping his way down the stairs, Edward was already sitting on my bed again. I yawned, stretching, not really surprised to hear my stomach announcing its empty state, but nevertheless I was still embarrassed. Edward smiled slightly as the customary red spread itself across my cheeks again, and reached out one cold hand to stroke it. I sank into his touch, and blinked, even though my eyes stayed closed for a lot longer than a normal blink would have.

"So…"

"So?"

He paused, thinking over his answer. I waited, randomly fluffing up my pillows as Edward tapped his fingers lightly down my spine, making me shiver. After a while, when he still hadn't responded, I got up, and snatched my toiletries bag on the way to the bathroom.

"While I age as you try to make up your mind," I teased, "I'm going to take some more of my human minutes."

I ducked into the bathroom before he could answer. I doubt that he would've, anyway, his gaze was a little glazed, as if he was looking through me, instead of at me. It rattled me more than it should've, but the feeling only lasted for a second. I turned the tap on, and brushed my teeth, trying to be quick, and reopened the door to my bedroom only five minutes after I had left it. Edward wasn't there though. I walked down the stairs slowly, wondering if he was in the kitchen.

I heard a couple of bangs and scrapes, and when I actually reached the kitchen, I found Edward hovering over a pan on the stove, with the same far away expression on his face, even though his hands were still stirring the pot.

"Um… hi?" I tried. It caught his attention at least. He turned to me with a dazzling smile that was anything but far away.

"Breakfast for the lady," He swept, single handedly, about five plates and juggled them onto the table without spilling the contents of even one of them. "Or maybe brunch; it's not early enough to call it breakfast. That's what sleeping in does to you." he said, winking at me as he steered me to the completely laden table.

"Sleep is good." I protested indignantly, sitting down and starting on a pancake. "I'm gonna get as much sleep as I can until I can-"

I stopped abruptly, and Edward's carefree face suddenly froze in place, and his grip on my shoulders tightened a little. Mentally, I was kicking myself, before he prompted, in a low, hard voice.

"Until you can what?" he asked stiffly, though his voice was light.

"Never mind," I mumbled, and stuffed my mouth with another forkful before he pressed anymore, to have an excuse to not talk.

The previously cheery atmosphere had turned noticeably tense. I chewed with my head bowed, even though Edward hadn't said anything else and his hands were still on my shoulders, his coldness seeping through the light material. I munched on in silence, wondering why exactly he was so opposed to the idea. _I mean_, I argued silently, _it would be much… better, easier for us to be equal in some way… much easier for him too, so I won't 'break' in his arms when he's not paying attention_. I trailed off in a long list of the pros for me becoming one of _them_, and then after a while, tried unsuccessfully to make a list of the cons. After a while, after I had demolished two plates, I set down my fork, still not looking up.

"Are you finished?" he murmured. I detected a slight sliver of something in his voice but couldn't dissect it. Sadness, maybe or perhaps even irritation.

"Yeah," I mumbled, head still down, resisting an urge to peek at his face.

Without another word, he picked up all the plates, and covered the three that I hadn't consumed with glad wrap and slid them into the fridge. He washed up without another word, and then turned slowly to me. I waited for him to turn his intense, dark gaze on me, but to my surprise, his eyes were still light, still friendly.

"What do you want to do?"

"Um…" I faltered, not expecting things to turn this way. "Go to your house?" my statement came out as a question, and I silently chided myself for being so unsure.

Edward however, just nodded, his face still friendly, and led the way to the front door. I followed, timidly, half of me still waiting for the angry exclamation. However, as I stumbled into the Volvo, the chance of it became less and less. Not that I was disappointed, of course. He started the car quietly, before we slid smoothly out of Charlie's driveway and hurtled away.

The ride was quite. I felt obliged to break the silence that wasn't overly uncomfortable, but deiced against it more than once. When the car was enveloped in the green mass of the forest though, I felt that the silence would drive me mad. The place was too similar to my dream.

"Will Alice be there?"

Edward turned his head slightly my way, but for once his still-golden eyes didn't leave the road we were on.

"Yes, unless she and Jasper decide to do something. I heard her mentioning another shopping trip…" he trailed off, the corner of his mouth twitching.

I looked out the window, not sure how to react. One part of me demanded to know if I was in anyway part of her 'shopping trip', the other part was seriously considering tying myself to the bed until Alice actually went on the trip herself or until she had been convinced of my utter determination to not be dragged off to another one of her sprees. As far as I could see, neither choice would make much headway against Alice. As the silence continued, I made up little arguments I could have against Alice, before realizing that Edward didn't even say anything about Alice engaging my company on her trip. Not that I was coming up with good brands of reasoning as it was.

The car trip went on, still rather silently, not including my pathetic little attempts of talking (i.e. Opening and closing my mouth like a fish), with Edward still darting looks at my face now and then when he thought I wasn't looking. I knew that he was still curious about last night's events and this morning's sleep talking, and I wasn't at all ready to quench his curiosity. Which, I knew, needed to happen sooner or later, by accident or on purpose, if I wanted it to or not. It wasn't a very happy prospect, but I had long ago destroyed the hope of things going my way when I needed it to.

The vegetation ahead thinned out a little, and I felt a previously dormant need to talk to Alice suddenly rise up in me, and I started fidgeting. Edward's eyes flickered to me, attracted by the little twitching movements I was making in my lap.

"We're almost there." He offered.

I gave him a fleeting smile, before staring out the window again. I felt Edward's cold fingers brush lightly along my neck, and leaned into his hand. Sure enough, the vegetation thinned even more, and suddenly the sun poured out in little beams through the clouds, making the greyish horizon seem a little brighter. I normally wasn't so superstitious, but I figured that it was a sign, and deliberately tried to lift my quiet mood. The car slowly slid to a stop, and I looked up, the Cullen Manor looming out from the horizon like old, perfect houses do in movies.

I stepped out of the car, rather smoothly, I thought, but wasn't about to jinx my apparent new grace. Perhaps I was exaggerating a bit, since I narrowly avoided kicking a large stone right in front of me. Edward flashed to my side, but I avoided his proffered hand, trying to keep whatever dignity I had left. I could almost hear his grin as he trailed behind me. We made our way to the house, reasonably easily, but I let him open the door. Somehow I didn't feel too surprised or shocked when Alice bounded into me. It did hurt a little though, especially when I landed on my butt.

"Alice," Edward growled warningly. Alice giggled, shooting him an apologetic look and pulling disgruntled me onto my feet. He watched Alice drag me upstairs, and I saw him shaking his head before he took his customary place before the piano. The next second though, Alice had pulled me into her room and the door blocked my view of Edward. She sat me on her bed, and sat on the floor in front of me with crossed legs, gazing into my face with an expression of endless patience, and waited for me to start speaking, the perfect picture of innocence. I took a breath, knowing that I could cut the 'Hello how are you' crap.

Before I could even get one word out though, Alice held up a hand to stop me. She closed her eyes, and seemed to be thinking very hard. I wondered what she was doing. Then it occurred to me. She was doing just that – thinking. Not too long later, Edward's disgruntled voice came from the other side of the door. I felt included, since he only spoke out loud to let me hear what he was saying. I smiled, even though I would've rather him not be listening at the door.

"Alice, I have a _right_ to know!" Edward's complaining voice came out from behind the door. Alice stuck her tongue out in annoyance at the door, for my benefit, and I grinned. She tiptoed, completely and utterly silently, towards the door, where she stopped, taking a position in front of the door that was as graceful as it was alert. I only understood what she was doing when she was in the middle of completing it. With a movement too fast for my eyes to register, Alice slammed the door open. With a crunch of wood, it splintered against Edward's body. This incident left me shocked, but Alice stalked gracefully away from Edward, sitting back down at my feet with her back to him. Edward dusted himself off, as if splintering a large, solid wood door in half was completely normal.

"You can go now Edward." She said in a sing song voice. I felt a sudden, mad urge to laugh. It was probably not the best thing to do. He walked away himself, and soon we heard a lilting music coming from his room. I gave Alice a questioning look, gesturing towards the door. She smiled at me, and calmly dragged her extremely large wardrobe in front of the door. She came back to sit at my feet again. "So?" she asked.

I sighed, wondering when to start. "First thing," I said "About Renée. Have you Seen anything…?" Alice shook her head. I pursed my lips, slightly annoyed and confused. "Okay then. I met this girl last night." I stopped again. Alice waited again. "She has black hair and topaz eyes, Asian, I think, and possibly able to enter people's dreams." I knew that I sounded stupid, especially after I added the last bit.

Alice didn't seem particularly surprised. Actually, she looked grimly satisfied. "This girl," she asked, "Are you sure her eyes are _topaz_?" Before I could open my mouth, she was continuing. "Don't you mean eyes of _fire_?"

* * *

_**AN:**__ Okay, to something now completely irrelevant. I watched House of Flying Daggers last night, after it piqued my interest. My friend tried to explain it to me, using her drink bottle as 'Lucy' (Mei), pencil case as the Members of the Flying Daggers, dictionary as 'Jim' (Leo) and a bible as 'Bob' (Jin). No need to say that I didn't understand it much, so I rented the movie. It's so… well, kind of hard to describe. Everything moves so fast, and it can get confusing if you're even one step behind. I've watched it about three times now and at the start I kept confusing Jin with Leo :) Since I'm Chinese, I could watch the original version, but they were all speaking… shall we say, the 'olden way', and I had to use English subtitles ;; Mei's English voice is too old though, I think, it doesn't fit. _

_Hope you're still enjoying this_

_xx Athemia_


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